The Asia Family
by fhedeactivated
Summary: A series of mini-stories about The Asia Family. Season one now complete!
1. New Cars & History References

Leon Wang was hallucinating. There was no other explanation for it. How could _it_ be in his driveway? He had begged and pleaded with his elder brother and caretaker, Yao Wang, time and time again for _it_ , but every time he received the same answer. "Not right now -aru. It's much too expensive, and besides, it's not even Chinese made!" Tentatively, Leon reached out to touch _it_. His normally stoic features morphed into excitement and wonder as his hand met cool metal. He quickly glanced up towards the numbers on the door, sure, this _looked_ like his house, but then again, every house on the street looked the same. Leon smirked, not for the first wondering whose bright idea that was. 6089*. Yup, this was definitely his house!

Suddenly, he began feeling slightly panicked. What if the beautiful, red Ferrari 458 wasn't his? It could've easily been Mei's or Yong Soo's, or even Yao's. Just as he was about to go into a state of panic, he heard a light laugh from behind him.

"Like it? I figured you're old enough to have your own, so..." The slim, almost feminine, Chinese man stood behind him, a small smile gracing his features.

"Are you, like, sure?"

Yao rolled his eyes." Completely -aru. But if you get into any accidents, you're paying. "

"I understand." His brother's words flew over his head, Leon was so elated, nothing anyone said could bother him. You probably could've ripped up his treasured panda plushie and not have even gotten a response! Actually, that might be a bit too far-fetched. The kid seriously loved his panda.

As his brother turned and began walking up back to the house, Leon was struck with a thought.

"GēGē!"

Yao quickly turned, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Thanks."

Such a small word, but to the two brothers it meant quite a bit.

Leon quickly jogged up the pavement to his brother's side. To his complete surprise, Yao wrapped his arms around him. And to his further disbelief, he found himself hugging back. They broke apart, and continued their walk back into their home, where sounds of an excited Korean boy blasting away on his video games, and a happy Taiwanese girl humming to herself and stirring the soup could be heard.

And for the first time in a while, the two brothers felt close. And all because of a stupid red car, that Leon decided didn't matter that much anyways.

That being said, he was still going to drive it. Who would let such a beautiful car go to waste?

 **A/N**

 **Hi there! This was my first ever fanfic, so I'd really appreciate any feedback. Please R & R, and provide what you liked about the story, what you hated, and how it could be improved.**

 **This was actually meant to be chapter one of a fanfiction I'm currently working on called Slick Roads. I got a bit carried away with the scene, and decided to scrap it from Slick Roads all together.**

 **This is a Human AU, assuming that Mei, Yong Soo, Leon, and Yao all live together, Yao being their caretaker.**

 **I picked the Ferrari 458 because it looked cool, and it seemed a bit like something Leon would like.**

 **For all you more perceptive readers, you may have noticed my little references in the beginning. "every house on the street looked the same", This is referencing China's past communistic state. Also, the numbers on the door, 6089, are all numbers considered to be lucky in China. :)**

 **GēGē : Elder Brother**

 **Mei : Taiwan**

 **Yong Soo : Korea/S. Korea**

 **Leon : Hong Kong**

 **Yao : China**


	2. Cosplays, Older Brothers & A Birthday

October 25th was a very special day for Taiwan, and her whole, strange little family knew it. It was her birthday! Each year, they gathered and held some sort of party for their sister, and it was always... Exciting.

Last year she had requested that her brothers dress up in cosplay for an anime convention because "It's kawaii! I promise, you'll look fabulous." And of course, they couldn't resist her big brown eyes and puppy dog face and gave in.

•oOo•

October 25th, a year earlier:

" _Aaand there!" Taiwan grinned as she put the finishing touches on Korea's makeup._

 _"Haha! Naruto originated in ME da-ze!"_

 _The rest of the Asians didn't even bother to argue, they had put up with Yong Soo's antics long enough to know that it would be futile to do otherwise._

 _"Hong! Here! Now!" Taiwan snapped, nearly dragging a reluctant Hong Kong over to her._

 _Her nimble fingers adjusted his Light Yagami cosplay, making little snips at his outfit here and there, Japan's camera clicking away all the while._

 _Japan honestly felt relatively comfortable in his Ciel Phantomhive outfit. He thought he looked pretty decent, though for the sake of his dignity, he'd never mention it to the rest of his family._

 _As his camera click_ ed _away, he noticed Taiwan get a strange glint in her eyes. Tentatively, he called out to her._

 _"Excuse me, Taiwan-chan, but are you alright?"_

 _"Mm? Yes, I'm fine. There you go, Hong. You're finished. China? Come here please!"_

 _Now Japan was certain there was a odd look in her eyes, and as China apprehensively walked over, he was positive his elder brother could see it too._

 _Taiwan reached over into her bag and pulled out a cosplay, holding it up for China to inspect._

 _China's eyes widened almost comically in horror._

 _"Umm... A-are you sure that's the right one -aru?" China asked nervously as he attempted to back up._

 _"Yup, come on!" Taiwan giggled as she latched on to his wrist and shoved him into the bathroom, locking it from the outside._

 _The other three Asian boys looked on in part horror, part sympathy._

 _"Just remember, Sailor Moon originated in me, da-ze!"_

•oOo•

They most certainly didn't want a party like that again, which was why the Asian boys planned ahead, assuring and reassuring Taiwan that she didn't need to make preparations, they were fine on their own.

"Okay, so are we, like, clear?" Hong Kong inquired.

"Uh... Run that by me one more time da-ze? Not that I wasn't paying attention, I, uh... Just wanted to make sure everyone else has it!" Im Yong Soo (in typical hyper manner) asked.

Hong let out an exasperated sigh, repeating himself for the fourth time.

"GēGē is taking care of the food, Japan's doing the decorations, and I'm providing the entertainment."

"Hey! What about me?"

Hong Kong smirked, "You'll, like, be staying out of the way and letting _us_ handle things."

"That's not fair da-ze!"

This was the moment when Japan decided to step in.

"Please reconsider your decision, Hong-kun. It _is_ quite unfair for Korea-kun not to have a job." Japan shot China a look that said 'back me up here'.

China tossed his long brown hair over his shoulder in a slightly arrogant way. "Honestly, it might be best for him to stay out of the way -aru. He has a remarkable ability to disturb any peaceful situation."

Korea stood there, hurt evident in his eyes.

Japan hurriedly approached Hong.

"Music! We don't have music. Perhaps Korea could provide that?"

"Hmm... Fine, like, just make sure you get a good band."

Im Yong Soo let out an excited whoop and tackled Japan.

"Your breasts are mine da-ze!"

•oOo•

It was the night of the party, and everyone was filled with excitement. China was hurriedly laying out plates of fresh Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese cuisine, all the while dashing back and forth to make sure the frosted Fengli Su cake wasn't burning. Japan was stringing up the last of the lanterns while Hong Kong, who had finished preparing his fireworks display, helped arrange the beautiful flowers on the table. Korea, who's K-pop band could set up by themselves, excused himself to take a look around.

And by 'look around' he meant snoop out Hong's fireworks set up. He walked through the many areas of rockets, glancing around the plywood setup. Noting the small control station in the middle, he walked over. Whistling softly, Korea ran a gentle hand over the panel full of switches and buttonsHis brother had obviously planned this out carefully, and dedicated himself to making it perfect for his sister. Turning to walk back to the party, Korea felt the long sleeves on his hanbock snag. Whipping around, he saw his sleeve attached to a small, jagged shard of metal. Nervously, he tugged on his sleeve. _C'mon, get off... I can't screw this up for Taiwan!_

He tugged harder and harder, then suddenly... Rrrip! A piece of his hanbock tore off, and the force sent him reeling backwards - and his other hand smacking into the board.

"No, no, no!" He yelled.

There was definitely something off with the board now. Several things had lit up where he was positive there weren't lights before. Normally, he would've been delighted to screw something of his brothers up, but not now. Not when it could be potentially fatal to him or his family! But... There was no way Hong Kong would let him do anything important again if he found out. And Korea was just too awesome to let that happen! After all, everything originated in Korea, right? So, he did what came naturally. Ignoring it and going back to the party like nothing ever happened!

•oOo•

"Okay, I think that's everything -aru! Good job, it looks amazing. Nothing like those stupid Westerners' parties!" China stated smugly.

Hong Kong and Korea rolled their eyes, Japan simply sighed. Yao was a wise man, but he could be so prejudiced at times.

But it was true, the getup DID look amazing. Lanterns were streamed through the pavilion, royal red paint on the walls, a beautiful tasseled table cloth, white sun banners hanging from the ceiling and a mix of Taiwan's national flower, the plum blossom, and red roses as the centerpiece. Japan glanced at the clock. 2 minutes until Taiwan was due. He was about to go fix a crooked banner when -

"I'm here!" Mei shouted, stepping out of her cab.

"Over here da-ze!" Korea shouted.

Mei walked into the pavilion, gasping as she took in the K-pop band preparing on stage, the beautiful decorations, and the _wonderful, delicious_ smelling food. She squealed, pulling her brothers into a group hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"It's, not like, a problem..."

"Parties originated in me da-ze!"

"You are quite welcome little sister."

"It's fine, c'mon -aru! The band is about to start singing!"

China happily led them over to a set of five chairs, and the K-pop group began to dance and sing.

•oOo•

Taiwan was having her best birthday yet - well maybe except for last year, that anime convention was fun! Treated to a night of gifts, red envelopes, delicious food, and wonderful (totally cute) Korean singers, she was a bit disappointed to see the night coming to a close, even if Hong Kong had promised her one last surprise. Her brother led the four of them outside, promised to be right back, and then, the magic began.

Hong Kong was back to his seat in a matter of seconds, surprising and worrying Korea.

"Um... Leon? Aren't you supposed to be MANNING THE FIREWORKS?! Korea yelled worriedly.

"Like, relax. I have individual switches for measuring the power and time I want to set off the fireworks, but I set it at the right, like, level so I can just start it off with a push of a button. Besides, the booth was dark and I didn't have a light, it's much easier to just control it this way." Hong Kong smirked with an 'I know so much more than you when it comes to this stuff' look on his face.

That didn't help Korea's nerves whatsoever. If the show was going on regardless if he had messed up the panel, then something bad was bound to happen. He crossed his fingers, and quietly murmured to himself, " _don't blow up, don't blow up da-ze!_ ". Miraculously, the show went off without a hitch.

"If you'll please, like, come this way." Hong led his sister inside a large, expertly crafted metal structure standing in the grass, where metal frames of flowers twisted upward, and little metal twigs bent down towards her hair. All around, similar metal plants were strung in the tress and woven into the ground.

"What's this?" Taiwan asked a bit nervously.

Hong dashed off towards the control booth, this time with a flashlight.

"Wait and see!"

In a few seconds, they did see. They wished they hadn't, but they did.

It was supposed to be a beautiful display, with the contraption light up with flames and sparkles, the metal flowers blooming with sparklers and light, and balls of flame bursting into the sky like miniature suns. But, this was the display Korea hit, causing it to not work out this way at all. In the beginning, it looked like everything was going to be fine, as the sparkles made their way upwards while Mei stared in wonder, but that didn't last very long. Mainly because it started shooting flames. Taiwan screamed and batted at the fire that was now licking up her dress and hair, and quickly scrambled from the cage, panting heavily and singed.

Hong Kong ran back to the scene with a nearly murderous glint in his eyes.

"Taiwan are you, like, okay? Apparently _someone_ decided to play around with the controls." He snapped, holding up the shred of Yong Soo's hanbock. Korea started stammering.

"I... Um... It was an accident?" He unsurely stated.

Taiwan began undoing her hair pins.

"You have ten seconds to run." She glared.

Hong paled and pointed at Korea. "It wasn't _my_ fault! He, like, messed it up!"

Korea grabbed his brother's wrist. "No time right now. Run da-ze!" And with that the two boys took off, Mei hot on their heels.

Yao smirked as he held out his hand. "Told you so!"

Japan nodded, and pressed several bills into his hand. "I should've known better... He does have a knack for getting into trouble."

"I'm calling a cab -aru. I'll tell him to wait for the three of them here. Mei might end up taking it out on us next!"

And with that, the two nations went back home, Leaving their younger brothers to fend for themselves. Because that's what older brothers do, right?

 **A/N : I was pleasantly surprised to find that this story has two followers. Thanks so much! Reviews would definitely be welcome though. I hope you liked this chapter, see you all agin next time!**

 **Sun banners : Referencing Taiwan's flag, which has a white sun on it.**

 **The plum blossom and rose centerpiece : Plum blossoms are Taiwan's national flower, and roses actually originated in Asia!**

 **Fengli Su: A sweet cake that's eaten in China and Taiwan (and maybe Japan, I'm not entirely sure.)**

 **The cosplays: I had to look these up, I picked Ciel Phantomhive because I thought he looked a bit like Japan, Light Yagami because he looks pretty freaking cool, and Sailor Moon because of the fact that... Well, let's admit it. China looks like a girl. I thought it would be funny to have Taiwan go a 'little' bit Elizaveta on him and force him to wear that o**

 **The little •oOo• : FF . net decided it doesn't want me to have line breaks, so here are these instead.**


	3. Red Foxes

Korea: Aged 5 in human years

Japan: Aged 12-13 in human years

Taiwan: Aged 8 in human years

Hong Kong: Aged 6 in human years

China: ?

Many years ago, in Southern Asia:

It had been exactly two weeks since Im Yong Soo, also known as Korea, had been adopted into the Asian Family. Right from the beginning, he loved his new brothers and sister! He loved the way China would pick him up and cuddle him when he was scared, the way his new GēGē would show him how to pick flowers and herbs, or even when he showed him how to eat 'properly' with chopsticks. (though he was under the impression that it was decidedly more fun to eat with your hands, bad mannered or not.) And most of all, he loved the feeling of being part of something for the first time. However, soon he noticed things were not as they originally seemed. The sibling closest in age to him, Hong Kong, was constantly making snide remarks about his lack of knowledge, lack of taste, lack of... Anything, really. His sister, Taiwan would throw him dirty glances, or simply glare at him. And his second eldest brother, Japan... He didn't really talk to, or acknowledge Korea much at all.

And that was what hurt the most.

After a particularly nasty dinner, including bits of food flung by Hong Kong at his face, (resulting in an all out food war) Korea decided he couldn't take it anymore. So he ran, as far and as fast as his little legs could take him. Then again, he _was_ 6, so that wasn't very far at all, but with all the twists and turns he made, he was soon nowhere near the house. He came to rest on a small hill, near where the forest began, losing himself in thoughts and memories for nearly two hours.

As soon as he felt the tears he tried to stop them, but by then it was too late. Furiously wiping at his eyes he began to talk to himself.

"Why... Why doesn't anyone like me? What did I do wrong da-ze!? I try to be nice, but they all hate me anyways..."

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Whirling around, he came to face a worried-looking Japan. "We don't hate you Korea-chan. We just-" Japan trailed off, looking into the distance.

"Do you see that family of foxes there? Over by the edge of the forest."

Korea fiddled with his curl. "Yes?"

"Look closely. All of the foxes are together, except for that small one lagging behind. In a way, you are similar to the fox."

Korea was expecting a lot of things, bitter words, glares, hatred... But most definitely not a baby fox. He gazed at the foxes, watching the little red creatures poke around through the dirt and shrubbery. Sure enough, a smaller, younger looking Red Fox was trailing behind, desperately trying to follow what the others were doing, to no avail.

"I-I... I don't understand, da-ze!"

Japan cracked a rare smile. "The littlest one was likely born a short while ago, and therefore is having trouble keeping up and being accepted. He has to prove his worth before the others will truly see them as one of their own. However, someday, that little fox will grow big and strong, and be just as powerful as it's family. Just like you."

Korea fidgeted a bit more, watching as an elder red fox nudged a treat to the little one.

"But... Then why do you all act the way you do, even if I'll be strong one day?"

"You _will_ be strong one day, but for now you are not. However, that's not the reason we treat you like we do. Leon was the youngest before you came, and now, most of China's energy and time is devoted to _you_. It's obvious he's quite jealous."

Yong Soo pondered this for a moment, before deciding that, yes, it seemed to fit.

"Mei is a young girl, and does not particularly care for boys. But you are new, and she doesn't quite know what to make of you. Be kind to her, and she'll warm up to you very quickly."

Korea gazed at Japan, his head reeling with this new information.

"And I... I haven't paid much attention to you at all, have I? That is inexcusable, and I will do everything in my power to be a better brother. I hope you can forgive me, Korea-chan."

Forgive _him_? If what Kiku had said was true, then Korea really _wasn't_ at fault, and that felt amazing. He quickly launched forward, grabbing a hold of his brother in an embrace.

"Of course, da-ze!"

Japan held out a hand to his younger brother.

"Shall we go then? I think we have some siblings who are very worried about you."

"Da-ze! Korea exclaimed, freezing in place. Japan was right! He had been missing for a long time now. He needed to get back to his family, especially his new GēGē. Tugging on Kiku's hand, he ran forward attempting to find his brothers and sister.

And in several minutes, shouts of joy could be heard, and embraces and apologies were all around.

As he walked back home, hand and hand with his siblings, Korea decided upon something. Maybe- just maybe - this wouldn't be so bad. He had a new life, and a new family.

And he'd do anything in his power to protect it, just like that little red fox would eventually do for his.

 **A/N: Woohoo! Chapter three is DONE! This took waaaay longer than I wanted it to, but my family came over for the Fourth of July, so I couldn't get much done.**

 **I now have 5 followers, and one favorite! *hugs all of you***

 **Thanks so much guys!**

 **I'd like to point out, as a reviewer was kind enough to mention, (talking to you mimi-chan and aliling-chan) I didn't state whether I was taking requests. The answer is YES! Please, if you have an idea for a chapter, leave it in the reviews!**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Viofan238: Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it.**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: We've talked :). Thank you for leaving a review!**

 **Side notes:**

 **I screwed with their ages. I'm sorry! It fit the story better for their ages to be the way I set them, and for Korea not to be just a toddler.**

 **The title of the story is now changed, as is the summary!**

 **Upcoming Chapter: Taiwan requests that her brothers ballroom dance with her, but will it just be a regular old dance, or will it uncover memories that should stay buried?**


	4. Stargazing

Taiwan: Aged 7 in human years.

Hong Kong: Aged 1 in human years.

Japan: Aged 11 in human years.

Korea: Aged 4 in human years.

China: Aged ? in human years.

Many years ago:

Mei groaned as she tossed and turned, trying to hide her ears from that _horrible_ wailing noise. Her baby brother sure was cute, but why did he have to be so _loud_? Hong's cries became louder and shriller, and Taiwan decided she had had enough. Rolling out of bed, she crept silently across the hallway and into his room, doing her best not to wake any of her siblings.

"Shh, it's okay! Don't cry, I'm right here. Calm down, everything's fine." Mei did her best to hush Leon. Stroking his fluffy brown hair, Taiwan was filled with a warm fluffy feeling. Hong's cries had since ceased, and his eyes were drooping. "I'm gonna go now, okay? Just go to sleep, and you'll be okay in the morning." She retracted her hand, and Hong's eyes shot open, his little fingers gripping hers in a silent plea for her to stay. Surprised by his sudden act of force, she stopped her effort to go back to her room. "Okay little one, I'll stay with you. Mama shouldn't be too mad, after all, if I keep you quiet, he gets more sleep, right?" Mei contemplated.

Suddenly, a thought struck Taiwan. Why was Hong Kong crying anyways? He had been fed earlier, he obviously wasn't tired - She sniffed the air. Nope, everything _smelled_ fine. (Mei wasn't about to go any farther than that.) So what was upsetting him? Maybe... He was lonely? Well, that was something she could fix! He was so sweet, with his amber eyes, and endearing half pout. Taiwan gently cradled him, and began to sing. _"Yì shǎn yì shǎn liàng jīng jīng, mǎn tiān dōu shì xiǎo xīng xīng, guà zài tiān shàng fàng guāng míng, hǎo xiàng xǔ duō xiǎo yǎn jīng..."_ Noticing that his big sister had trailed off, Hong Kong scrunched up his face. Uh-oh. What were the next lyrics? Stalling, Mei hummed a bit, trying to bounce Leon who was becoming more agitated by the second.

 _"Yì shǎn yì shǎn liàng jīng jīng, mǎn tiān dōu shì xiǎo xīng xīng."_ A voice finished from behind. Japan stood in the doorway. "Were you having trouble sleeping?" Taiwan nodded. "He's so loud! I'm trying to get him to fall asleep." Japan smiled. "Would you two like to come outside with me? The stars are very beautiful tonight, and Hong-chan might enjoy the fresh air."

Nearly bouncing with excitement, Taiwan followed Japan out onto the back porch. The sky was amazingly clear and the stars seemed to shine brighter than ever! Gasping, she tilted her head, attempting to take in all the glittering, sparkling lights in the sky. Leon made grabby hands in the air, futilely attempting to grab the stars. Japan smiled as his siblings looked on in awe. Satisfied, he began pointing out constellations,Taiwan dong her best to listen attentively.

THUMP! A bang echoed throughout the house, and crashing noises were soon heard afterward. Hong opened his eyes in fright, and clung to Taiwan's nightgown. What was going on? Was there someone in their home?! Japan quickly assumed a protective stance in front of his little sister and brother, he would fight off anything that came near _his_ family! Creaking, the doorknob began to turn. This was it, whoever was foolish enough to break in would have to answer to him and his father! The door opened, and in the frame stood a menacing, powerful... Younger brother? Yong Soo stood out of breath and panting, one hand clasping the handle of the door.

"I woke up and Japan was missing da-ze! I came to investigate!" He puffed up his chest with pride. Japan stifled a laugh. "What on _earth_ did you bump into? You only should've had to walk down to the back porch, Korea-chan." Korea grinned, still panting slightly. "Mama said I have a lot of energy da-ze." Taiwan giggled. "Want to look at the stars with us? They're really pretty." Yong Soo snuggled up next to his siblings as Japan pointed out more constellations and patterns. Korea wasn't really paying attention though, he just liked being cuddled by his family.

Kiku noticed his siblings drifting off, and gently pulled them into an embrace. "It's very late... Perhaps we should go to sleep soon?" Murmurs of tired assent were heard, and in a matter of seconds, Hong, Taiwan, and Korea were out. Japan yawned, it had been a long day. He normally would've gone back to his bedroom with Korea, but now his sibling were all here sleeping, he supposed he could too.

About an hour later China left his bedroom to discover that his children were gone. He began to panic, what if something had happened to them? What if they had been kidnapped, or injured, or- Taking a deep breath, Yao attempted to calm himself down, and inspect his surroundings. The only thing out of the ordinary was the trail of broken furniture and decor- well, actually that wasn't too out of the ordinary in their house. Between his frequent visitor and nephew Thailand, and his son Korea- That was it! This _had_ to be Korea's doing. He followed the path down the hallway, all the way down to their back porch. Opening the door, he found what was probably the sweetest image he had seen in awhile. All four of his children were curled up together, Hong Kong nestled in Taiwan's arms, Korea snuggling in the middle, and Japan with an arm protectively over the other three. Smiling wistfully, Yao kissed each of his kids on the forehead, and carried them back to their rooms.

He really did love his family.

 **A/N:**

 ***nervous laughter***

 **So, this chapter /might/ not be the one I promised you, but I hope you like it anyways! I'll be sure to write the ballroom dancing one later.**

 **Translations: yì shǎn yì shǎn liàng jīng jīng: Twinkle twinkle shine so bright**

 **mǎn tiān dōu shì xiǎo xīng xīng: The heavens are full of little stars**

 **guà zài tiān shàng fàng guāng míng: Hanging up there you shine your light**

 **hǎo xiàng xǔ duō xiǎo yǎn jīng: Like so many little eyes**

 **yì shǎn yì shǎn liàng jīng jīng: Twinkle twinkle shine so bright**

 **mǎn tiān dōu shì xiǎo xīng xīng: The heavens are full of little stars**

 **It's basically just the Chinese version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I thought it was cute :).**

 **I have 7 followers and TWO FAVORITES! Thank you guys so, so, so much! It means so much to me that you guys have done this. As this is my first ever fanfic, I** ** _know_** **my writing sucks, and I'd be really glad to have your constructive criticism!**

 **Just to be clear, the Asian kids use 'mama' as their name for Yao (with the exception of Japan). They know he's a male however.**

 **This should've been updated earlier, but my Wi-Fi has been down for multiple days. I'll update the next chapter within a day or two!**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **happy cake: I'm very glad you like it. I think a story where they go on vacation would be very fun to write!**

 **Guest: Yay! Thanks a bunch for your review. I love the Asian Family so much, words cannot describe- And again, whoops, I'm sorry I didn't give you the chapter I put in the glimpse... May I suggest creating an account? It would be easier to keep track of the story!**


	5. A New Pet

Japan: Aged 6 in human years.

China: Aged ? in human years.

"Please? I'll follow right behind you. I promise!" Japan begged, for what was likely the fifth or sixth time that afternoon.

China sighed. "I'm sorry, Kiku. But I have work to do today, and I still have to cook dinner -aru!

Japan pondered the situation for a bit. If China couldn't take him, then maybe he could go by himself! He was _six_ after all. That was surely old enough to go into the forest alone! "GēGē, perhaps I can go by myself, if that's alright with you."

Amber eyes stared into chocolate. China bit his lip and began nervously twirling his hair. Well, he _knew_ it was an option from the start, but that didn't mean he liked it. Honestly, what if his precious little brother got hurt, or lost, or even mauled by some wild animal?! However, Japan was a rather responsible child, and Yao's earlier excuse for not letting Kiku go was true. He had _quite_ a bit of work to finish before the world meeting tomorrow, peace & quiet would be very helpful.

"All right -aru. But be careful, _please_! And don't go too far. Oh, and you better be home before dinner time -aru!"

The normally calm child let out a happy yell, and then dashed into the forest. "I promise, GēGē!"

China stopped fussing, and with a laugh watched as his little brother retreated between the bamboo trees. He was positive that after he'd said 'All right' Japan stopped listening anyways.

•oOo•

Honda Kiku was having a fantastic time. The forest was filed with interesting plants, sweet-smelling flowers, and beautiful butterflies. He made up his mind to paint them later so he could see them _all_ the time. His art skills weren't perfect, and they were nothing like his brother's amazing sketches, but he had resolved to practice until he was the best artist ever! As he journeyed deeper into the forest, he came across a small clearing and something sparked in his brain. He _knew_ this place. Suddenly, it hit him. _This is the place where China found me._ Lost in thought, he failed to notice he wasn't alone. It was only when the shrubbery began to rustle that he became on guard.

"W-who's there?" Japan's head swiveled around as he attempted to survey the area. The bushes rustled once more, and then a tiny, black and white furball tumbled out. _A baby panda!_ Kiku ran over with excitement, all previous fear left behind.

"Where are your parents, Panda-san?"

The panda, obviously, did not respond, instead opting to nuzzle Kiku's foot. After scoping the area a bit, he discovered no trace of the baby panda's parents. Getting comfortable, he rolled around with the panda for awhile, happily petting and playing with his new friend.

The clearing began to seem dimmer, and Kiku cast a worried glance at the sky. The sun was low, and that was a clear indicator that he better get home for dinner- and fast!

But what about his new friend? China most certainly wouldn't let him keep a pet, and he couldn't just l _eave_ him here! _But what if I can hide him?_ If he was careful enough, China would never find out! There was that big cupboard in his room, he could create a nest for him... Japan immediately began plans for how to hide, feed, and play with his new pet.

•oOo•

As soon as his brother walked through the door, Yao Wang felt a huge weight lift off of his chest. "You're home -aru!" He moved to embrace Kiku, but was surprised when he quickly jumped away. Japan was normally sensitive to touch, but not around _him_!

Slightly hurt, he frowned. " Well, dinner's ready when you are -aru."

Japan glanced nervously at his feet. "Uhm... I need to go to my room for a second. I-I'll be down in just a moment!"

China went from being hurt, to being suspicious. This was _not_ normal behavior from his calm, steady brother.

"Japan?" China questioned.

But he was already upstairs, doing whatever was important enough that he had to hide it from him.

 _You better be careful, little brother. Because I'm going to find out what happened, no matter what._

•oOo•

The next few days passed with much tension. Japan doing his best to take care of the baby panda, including bringing bamboo and water from the forest, fluffing up the blankets in the cupboard, and doing his best to litterbox train him. So far, he was majorly unsuccessful with the last one.

It was only five days before his plan fell apart.

"Here, Panda-san... Please come out!" Kiku whisper-called. Currently, he was on his hands and knees searching for his panda friend. After coming inside from his outdoor painting session, (he was right, those butterflies looked _marvelous_ on canvas!) Kiku had gone to check on Panda-san, and discovered him missing. After a half hour of basically tearing apart his room, (in hindsight, that probably wasn't his best idea, due to the fact that his room was now a complete wreck.) he'd still had no luck in finding his secret pet. Just as he was about to give up hope -

"Aiyah! What is _that_!?" China screamed from the living room.

Kiku immediately raced down the stairs, heart beating wildly. "GēGē? Are you alright?" China was sitting on the couch, cradling _his_ panda.

"Japan -aru. Please explain why there was a _panda_ in my _living room."_ China said, doing his best not to flip out. Deciding that his best option was likely to tell the truth, Japan explained everything.

•oOo•

China listened to Kiku's story, doing his best not to interrupt. Sure, he was upset with him, but he had to admit, he was pretty impressed too. Not only had Kiku managed to hide the panda from him - _Even if it was only for five days..._ He had also taken good care of it, and the panda seemed to be happy. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad having a pet around the house!

"Alright -aru." China smiled after Japan had finished his story. "You can keep him, but only if you take care of him -aru!"

Kiku looked absolutely astonished, he wasn't expecting China to let him keep Panda-san! "Thank you, GēGē... But aren't you mad?"

"Not really -aru. I'm a little upset that you hid it from me, but you did a good job of taking care of your panda, and proved you're responsible enough to have a pet. Even if I would've preferred to have a cat."

Japan's face lit up. He _loved_ cats. "Can we get one of those too?"

China laughed. "Don't push your luck -aru. It's a nice day outside, would you like to come paint with me? The forest is really beautiful this time of year."

Japan nodded happily, and followed his brother outside, panda in arm. Little did he know, this time they would return with more then paintings or pandas. Watch out world, Taiwan is coming through!

 **A/N:**

 ***more hysterical laughter***

 **I really, really, wanted to put up the ballroom dancing chapter, but this ended up happening instead. The ballroom one (Geez, it needs a name.) was supposed to be historical, but I can't find any Japanese princesses that were assassinated. HISTORY, Y U NO GIVE ME FANFIC MATERIAL? So, that chapter will come later on.**

 **I FORGOT SOMETHING AND I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY I DON'T OWN HETALIA. I NEVER WILL OWN HETALIA. YOU'D THINK AFTER 113k FANFICS JUST ON THIS WEBSITE HIMARUYA WOULD GET THAT ALREADY. (However, if I did, Hong Kong and Iceland would have a character song together :3)**

 **Alert: I'm doing a contest! My 15th reviewer will get to choose a character to make an appearance. Any character, as long as they're canon.**

 **I have 4 favorites and 9 followers. *gives everyone internet cookies* It makes my day every time I see a fave or follow, so if you're reading this story but not following, please do! It makes updates come much faster. :)**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **strongwolf4: *tips hat* Thanks!**

 **Maya5392: First off, let me just say your review made me incredibly happy. Thank you! I made Thailand China's nephew because when I wrote the first chapter, it was at four am and I was too lazy to put either him or Vietnam into the story. Both he and Vietnam will be making frequent appearances later on! I don't really know much about Macau. He may make an appearance later, if anyone really wants him to.**

 **Guest 1/ Guest 2: Haha, I've been there before.**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Aww! I'm glad you like it. I actually have a game chapter planned, and I'll take your idea into consideration. As you see, the characters' ages typically change each chapter, so when Thai makes an appearance you'll just have to check. :)**


	6. Games Part One

Hong Kong set a card down on the table, a nervous glint in his eyes. "Um... Five. Your turn, Korea."

Haha! Korea hadn't missed that little fumble. Eyeing the large stack of cards happily, Korea grinned. "Bull sh*t." He lifted up the top card, laughing. If Leon had to take the whole stack, the game was _definitely_ in the bag. Now what had his brother put down? The card was-

A five of hearts.

"Seriously, da-ze?! But- how-...?" Im Yong Soo yelled, slamming his forehead onto the table. Hong Kong was _freakishly_ good at this game. So far, he'd beaten everyone at _least_ 3 times, making Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand give up. Korea just kept playing, in the vain hope that he'd eventually beat him. As he was going on round number 12, the odds of that happening weren't huge. Only two people Leon knew stood a chance of beating him, and he didn't think either of them were playing any time soon.

For instance, Leon's best friend, Iceland, had one of the best poker faces he'd ever seen. (Not as good as _his,_ obviously, but it was, like, a start.) However, he made it a point to stay as far as humanly possible from the Wang house. Probably due to the fact that Taiwan and Japan set up cameras throughout the house whenever he came over. It'd wouldn't have been so bad, expect for that the cameras were broadcasting a live feed to Hungary, the Bad Touch Trio, and Taiwan's blog. Hong was too scared to even _look_ at that. When Emil and Leon asked them about the cameras, they simply responded with something about how they wanted to catch some 'kawaii yaoi moments'. Whatever _that_ means.

Japan, however, just refused to get involved the game, instead preferring to read some manga.

"Okay, it's, like, obvious you aren't going to beat me anytime soon, so why don't we play something else?" Hong Kong asked.

"Hm, how about Monopoly -ana?" Thailand suggested, overhearing their conversation. Toto trumpeted his agreement. Vietnam, Taiwan, and China nodded, and Japan simply continued to sit on the couch.

"Oh come _on_ da-ze! Come play, lazy bones!" Im Yong Soo yelled to Japan. Ignoring his little brother, Kiku buried himself deeper into his manga.

 _Poke_.

Japan felt Im Yong Soo tap his arm. Taking a deep breath, he willed himself not to snap.

 _Poke, poke, poke._

 _Concentrate, Kiku! Don't give in._

 _Poke_. Korea used a little more force than necessary.

 _Poke, poke, poke-_

"Enough!" Vietnam shouted, twirling her paddle above her head. "If Japan doesn't want to play with us, he doesn't have to, now stop annoying him before I -"

 _Poke_.

Vietnam prepared to swing her weapon through the air, and on a whim Kiku pushed Korea to the ground, deciding he didn't want his little brother to get his brains splattered across the hardwood flooring.

"It's alright, Vietnam-san. I'll play." _Not like I was able to focus on my manga too well anyways._

After setting up the board, it became a game of betrayal, black market deals, and general bloodthirst. But it was all in good fun, right?

Taiwan was perhaps the most reasonable out of all of them, buying only properties she thought were worth it, and then proceeding to save her money.

Vietnam's strategy was to buy up the cheapest properties and to glare menacingly at anyone who laughed when she received a bad card from the community chest, or chance piles.

Hong Kong bought only 4 properties, and spent the rest of his money on hotels, claiming, "My people need to, like, live in _style_!"

Thailand spent a good deal of time attempting to negotiate prices, and once he received a price he deemed 'worthy', he discussed it lengthily with Toto, causing the other 6 players to groan, stare into space, or in China's case, take a nap.

Korea bought up _every single property_ he landed on, going as far to mortgage his properties to buy more properties. When asked _why_ he responded with a none too shocking answer. "Everything originated in Korea, right da-ze?"

China spent most of the game complaining about the price of certain properties, but despite that, he was actually doing quite well!

Japan, however, had a rather unusual approach. The only two properties he bought were Boardwalk and Park Place, the rest of his money was either spent on houses, or saved.

In about a half hour, the game had dissolved into chaos. Im Yong Soo had been bankrupt _long_ ago, Taiwan was scraping together enough money to pay China, Vietnam had a grand total of 5$ left to her name, and Thailand had been disqualified due to an 'accidental' knockout-inducing paddle blow to his head, after taking an exceedingly long time to decide whether or not to by Baltic Avenue.

Two minutes later, and Hong Kong, China, and Japan were the last ones left. Kiku only still being in the game due to a valuable loan from Yao, with a written promise to pay him back. Minutes passed, and no severe damage was done until...

"One, two, three... Four." Leon muttered. He had unluckily landed on one of Japan's properties, costing him a whopping 600$, making him bankrupt. Korea began to laugh, although he was effectively silenced by Vietnam pointing at Korea, then to Thailand, her paddle, and then back to Korea.

Kiku smiled.

Yao smiled.

The other five backed up (Thailand was dragged), knowing that the one who lost would most likely throw a hissy-fit.

After several anticipation filled minutes, Japan's finances were wavering. It was simply bad luck when he got a chance card charging him 200$. _Focus, Kiku. All you have to do is pass Go, and you'll be-_

Kiku was snapped out of his thoughts by his elder brother's voice. "Japan? I'd like you to repay my loan... Right now -aru." China grinned deviously.

"W-what?"

"It seems simple enough, China takes all, you can go home now."

And with that, Yao won at Monopoly.

 **A/N:**

 **My hand slipped.**

 **Honestly, I'm sorry for this chapter. It's probably the most boring one, and I apologize for that.**

 **(If you guys like it, however, there may be a sequel with Mario Cart, Ninja, and mayyyyybe Slender?)**

 **Also, this chapter took me TWO DAYS OF PROCRASTINATION and FOUR HOURS OF ACTUAL WRITING TIME.**

 **I got quite a few reviews and PM's, and apparently you guys** ** _really_** **wanted Viet and Thai in here, so here ya go! Their debut in The Asian Family. I know for a fact they were OOC, but I only had the Wiki as a resource, and that didn't give too much info. If you guys have suggestions in how I can improve my writing for them, please tell me!**

 **"It seems simple enough. China take all, you can go home now." : THIS IS AN ACTUAL LINE FROM THE HETALIA DUB! Aren't you proud of me?**

 **China demanding the loan be payed back is something I think that real-life China is eventually gonna do to the U.S.A someday, and then we're basically screwed.**

 **You guys are utterly fantastic, and I can't thank you enough for reading this!**

 **Also, the review contest? We are one review away from 15, so if you are the fifteenth reviewer, don't forget to put the character you want to see make a cameo in your review! (Only canon characters please, and I'd prefer it if they were characters that have slightly more prominent roles. Basically anyone but Moldova, TRNC, Macau, and anyone else who has a reaaaaalllly short wiki page.)**

 **Do you guys even read this A/N? I'm not sure XD.**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **Happy cake: Right here, right now!**

 **Guest: :)**

 **Yami Mizumi: Thank you!**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Hehe, I'm glad you feel that way.**

 **I DON'T OWN HETALIA! If I did, the Asia fam would have better relationships. :(**


	7. Take Out

Mealtimes were always an... _Interesting_ affair at the Asia household. It wasn't that they _disliked_ each other's food, simply that they were all too proud to admit they _enjoyed_ the dishes. So, the type of food being served typically varied. Whether it was the winner of a bet, the loudest in an argument, or whoever was last standing in a fight, meals were often accompanied by dirty looks and snide comments. After multiple months of this, Japan had decided he'd endured it enough.

"Excuse me, but I have a possible solution to our... Situation. Perhaps we can do a challenge of sorts? A cook-off per say, and the winner's food is used for a month?"

The others considered it. Logically, it was a good idea. But who ever said The Asians were logical? After a moment of deliberation, everyone had come to the same conclusion. _This might (like) actually be fun (da-ze/-aru)!_ China was definitely sick of tearing his siblings off of one another. Receiving consent from the other four, Kiku began to prepare for what, with his family, was sure to be a disaster.

•oOo•

"Hello this is your host, Leon Kaoru Wang and, like, you're watching 'Who's Gonna Fail First?'" Hong Kong grinned, twirling his microphone/whisk.

China raised an eyebrow.

"Like, what? It's a logical name..."

The rules of the cook-off were simple. Cook using whatever ingredients were necessary, and do it in an hour - however delicious the food was, they really didn't want to wait all day

"Okay, so first up is Honda Kiku, known best for his tasty sushi and extremely messed up Poppin Kitchen creations!"

"Leon-kun, you are _supposed_ to be talking about food we _personally_ make, not food that originated in our countries!" Japan nearly shouted, disgruntled that someone had brought up the infamous Poppin Kitchen.

Taiwan giggled. "And besides, you don't need to film - we're the only ones here!"

"I know, but, I'm totally going to get a kick out of this later."

"Good point! Send it to me."

Hong Kong trailed behind Kiku, filming the whole thing on his state-of-the-art-not-even-in-stores-yet smartphone. How he got the money for it, no one knew. What was more amazing was that he knew how to work it! The kid was a serious genius when it came to these things.

•oOo•

Exactly an hour later, Kiku rushed out with two small steaming bowls of Nikujaga, while Hong did his best to act as camera man, host, and judge number 2. Taiwan smiled at his obvious distress.

"Oh give me that!" Mei laughed, plucking the phone from Leon's hand.

Hong Kong and Taiwan dug into the dish while China, Japan, and Korea watched. Mei and Leon were the only ones judging, because:

A) Hong had decided not to cook anything.

B) He was basically indifferent about everything, so why should he be biased?

C) Taiwan had given puppy dog eyes until she was allowed to become a judge. (How could anyone resist?)

"Mmm... Yummy! 8/10!" Taiwan grinned through a mouthful of food

"This is, like, good. 9/10." Hong Kong nodded.

"Thank you very much, but may I ask why I missed the points?" Japan asked, slightly miffed that he'd been docked points, he thought his dish was perfect!

Mei nodded thoughtfully. "Well... I still want to win of course!" Hong however chose to shrug rather than give an answer.

"A-alright then?" Japan murmured, slightly bewildered. Hong Kong shot up from his seat.

"Our next contestant is my sister and, like, fellow judge, Mei Wang!"

Taiwan feigned upsetness. "No fancy intro?"

Leon smirked. "I'm sure we'll, like, get enough flattery when it comes to judging." Mei stuck out her tongue at this, and Hong copied, before taking his phone back and following her into the kitchen.

•oOo•

Taiwan rushed out, carrying two dishes of cubes of something Hong Kong had never seen before. As soon as his sister set the plates down, he decided he didn't _need_ to see them- mush less _taste_ them. They smelled... Awful!

"Uh, I think that you may have, like, screwed up this dish."

"Why?"

"It smells like sewage!"

Taiwan made a face. "I know. It's supposed to smell like this, go on, try it!" Doing his best not to gag, he downed a cube. Actually... This wasn't that bad! Pretty decent by his standards.

"I give my fabulous dish 10/10!"

The other Asian nations groaned. Why had they let her judge again?

"It tastes fine, but I give it a 6/10."

"What! Why?"

Hong stuck out his tongue. "It smells." Huffing jokingly, Taiwan pushed her plate into the garbage.

China laughed teasingly. "Quite the food critic, aren't you -aru?"

"Alright, our third contestant is the ancient, Hello Kitty loving, girlish looking -"

China glared at him.

"Uh... Yao Wang, everyone!"

Hong nervously smiled at his eldest brother before following him to the kitchen.

•oOo•

China laid out a classic Chinese dish of noodles and orange chicken.

"Ooh, this is spicy. 8/10!"

"This is really good GēGē. 9/10."

 _Tied with Japan -aru._ Yao thought.

"Our fourth and final contestant is the hyper, over-active, dramatic, Im Yong Soo!"

Yong Soo looked at Leon. "Can you not film me while I cook? I want to try this by myself da-ze!"

Leon nodded, and waved Korea into the kitchen.

•oOo•

Japan smelled smoke, and judging by the looks on his siblings faces, they did too.

China smiled. "Aiyah! He's probably burned his whole dish -aru."

It didn't seem like anything too serious until there was a scream, and the sound of lots of things smashing. Leaping up, the four of them ran into the kitchen to see Korea standing in front of a mixture of ingredients and smashed cutlery on the ground, and mass of partially-melted metal that a China assumed was his stove.

"Uh... Takeout da-ze?" Yong Soo asked nervously.

Everyone looked to China, expecting some sort of a reaction.

"I give up -aru. Takeout it is..." China was, to say the least, upset. But he was also bewildered and amused too. _How is it even possible to melt a stove in an HOUR? He has to be a worse cook than Opium!_ Yao re-contemplated that thought. Perhaps he was exaggerating a little.

No one was a worse cook than Opium.

He smiled slightly at Korea, and walked them to his sports car, bracing himself for the sure to be arguments about _which_ takeout place, or _what toppings_ if they ordered pizza.

•oOo•

After a delicious meal, he drove his family back home, dropping Japan off at his house along the way. _Today was a good day... Perhaps I should let Korea cook more often!_

China shuddered. Let Korea cook again? Maybe he _was_ getting too old!

 **A/N:**

 **This took soooooo long. I apologize for that, don't kill me! I wasn't really feeling much inspiration, and I'm currently working on two other fics so I didn't have a ton of time...**

 **Thanks you guys so much! All your favorites, follows, and reviews mean the world to me. Plus, they make me update faster!**

 **Japan having his own house: In this story, during the non-flashback chapters, Japan sleeps and hosts events at his own house, but for the most part stays at China's place.**

 **HK: A headcanon of mine is that HK is very good with electronics. This started when I first got into the fandom, and confused Korea with Hong Kong.**

 **Poppin Kitchen: A series of microwaveable Japanese meals used by mixing things in colored packets and water together. Apparently, they're extremely disgusting!**

 **Nikujaga: This was briefly mentioned in the anime and manga, when Japan attempts to make beef stew for his boss but it turns out as Nikujaga. It's similar to a Japanese version of beef stew.**

 **The dish Taiwan made is literally called stinky tofu, and it's often said to smell like sewage.**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Haha, I know. Japan was actually planned to win, but then China just came along and took the spot. By the way, you won the review contest! Tell me what character you'd like to see, and they'll appear in a chapter. (Just go back a chapter and look at the rules in the A/N!)**

 **Calistropha: Yay! Thanks so much for reviewing my story. I'm glad you like my writing style and character interactions :). Also, thanks for the help with Thai and Viet! That will be very useful information for future chapters.**

 **Happy cake: Thanks!**

 **Hinotorie-hime: Thank you for your triple review! Japan has always been a wise person in my mind, and I'm happy you like that portrayal of him. The whole choppiness thing is what worries me most while writing. I'm glad you don't think my style is choppy!**

 **Guest: Was it meant to be Giripan? No. Can you view it as Giripan? Yes! I love the pairing, I should sneak it in more often ;).**

 **Review, it keeps me motivated! (And guilt-tripped)**

 **I don't own Hetalia, Poppin Kitchen, or Hello Kitty. (If you thought I did, I'm sorry to disappoint.)**


	8. The First Day

**Human AU**

 **Kiku: Aged 8, third grade**

 **Lien (Vietnam): Aged 7, second grade.**

 **Mei: Aged 6, first grade**

 **Yong Soo: Aged 5, kindergarten**

 **Leon: Aged 2 1/2, pre-school**

 **WARNING: Un-important sideline puppy love between kids.**

"Okay everyone! Breakfast -aru!" Yao Wang yelled. The sound of several little feet echoed across the hallway, and three kids ran into the room. Yao's eldest child, Kiku, immediately began setting out utensils.

Yao chuckled at his everlasting politeness, and gently pushed his had away. "It's alright. I can take care of it -aru." After setting the table and quickly dishing out breakfast, he turned to his other children and smiled, "Go eat. I need to get dressed, I'll be right back -aru!"

Kiku looked surprised, but he nodded his head and sat down, beginning to neatly eat his Zongzi. His other siblings lethargically nibbled at their breakfast. Leon, the youngest child, just gently rested his head on the table as he picked at his food, and Yong Soo mumbled to himself, not nearly as energetic as normal. (Which Kiku was glad for, as it was the only time day he could actually get some _peace_.) However, that was about to change. The school year was starting back up _today!_ And when that happened, he'd only have to put up with his brother after 3:00. He had to admit, he was a bit nervous. Third grade is a big deal! He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Leon fling a piece of food across the table.

 _Splat_.

The tiny piece of Zongzi smacked onto Yong Soo's cheek. With a glare, Yong Soo immediately flung a piece back. Leon smirked, and tossed another piece at his brother. Of course, Yong Soo wasn't going to put up with this, and all hell broke loose. Taking a final mouthful of his food, he grabbed his plate, walked over to his younger brother, and...

Dumped the rest of his breakfast onto Leon's head. Leon sat still in shock, before letting out a guttural scream.

"Why do that?" Leon pouted, doing his best to sound angry with his limited 2 year old vocabulary. Yong Soo resigned himself to grinning evilly, before taunting,

"Dad! The baby made a mess da-ze!"

"Not. A. Baby!" Leon screamed with all the force he could manage, before running over to Yong Soo, and grabbing onto a fistful of his brothers hair. Any thoughts of third grade were _far_ gone from Kiku's head, his main occupation now was to prevent his siblings from killing each other.

"Please, Leon, Yong Soo, stop!"

But as always, his siblings paid him no mind. Speaking of siblings... Where were his sisters? Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen them since he'd woken up... Nevermind _that_ now, he needed to fix this. Preferably without using violence himself!

"Father! Help!" Kiku shouted, knowing this was going to mess things up for him later. Both of his siblings froze in place, Yong Soo in the middle of elbowing Leon, and Leon on his back, teeth embedded into his elder brother's neck. In a matter of seconds, footsteps were heard, and their father ran downstairs.

"Aiyah! What the hell -aru?!"

•oOo•

After successively removing his two youngest children from each other's throats - _literally_ in Leon's case - Yao set off to find his two daughters. Approaching the girl's room, he knocked cautiously. No response.

 _Fine, if that's how you want to play it, go right ahead_.

He pushed open the door to see the _entire_ room a complete disaster! Shirts, pants, skirts, dresses - you name it - were all strewn across the floor, Lien sitting calmly on the bed (which looked to be the only safe haven), and Mei lying on her back in the center of it all.

At a loss for words, Yao just stood in the doorframe and stared.

Lien sighed. "She can't find anything to wear, and I'm not hungry."

 _Can't find anything to wear?_ The room was filled with clothing of all different styles and colors, and she couldn't find _anything?_ These clothes were all very nice, _And expensive._ Yao reminded himself. He titled his head up to the ceiling. _What to do, what do._ With a slightly evil idea, he smirked.

"Well..." Yao tapped his chin in feigned contemplation. "You can always just go to school in your pajamas -aru, but now that you're in first grade, everyone else will be wearing nice clothes so you might be a little weird-looking."

Mei looked absolutely horrified. "N-no thanks! I'll pick something out!"

Although Yao was pretty sure this might come back to bite him later, he simply beckoned to his eldest daughter.

"Lien, would you like some breakfast -aru? Your brothers have already eaten, but if you like I can get something for you too."

Lien shook her head. "I'm going to go find Kiku and ask him about second grade. I need to prepare!" She ducked her head shyly and raced from the room.

•oOo•

"Please?"

"Lien..."

"Pretty please?"

Yao threw his hands up in defeat! "Fine, -aru. But please keep it in your cubby is until recess!" Lien smiled, and zipped the small oar into her bag. The toy/weapon had come from a camping trip last year, and when Lien's oar broke, she became very saddened, so Yao simply sanded it down. Now, she refused to go anywhere without it. He'd hoped she'd grow out of it, but it seemed that day was not upon them yet.

After rushing to get them all into the car, Yao thought it might be a good idea to make small talk.

"So, are you all ready for school -aru?"

Yong Soo nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! Kindergarten originated in Korea, da-ze!" Yao groaned inwardly, after hearing about Korea on the news last week, his son had become _obsessed_ with Asian country. He was _so_ going to get a call from the history teacher.

After a few minutes of song requests for the radio, Yao pulled up to the school.

"Alright everyone! Come on, Kiku, Lien, can you walk to your classrooms yourselves -aru?"

Both children nodded and ran into the building.

"Alright you three, come on -aru." Yao picked up Leon, grabbed the hands of Mei and Yong Soo, and walked into the building.

•oOo•

| **Leon** |

"Leon, please -aru!"

"No!"

Golden eyes stared into amber, and the battle of wills began. After 5 minutes, Yao's resolve was beginning to crack, _Geez, this kid was good!_ when a woman walked into view.

She was pretty, in a feline way, with shoulder-length blonde hair adorned with a green ribbon, emerald green eyes, and a slightly catty smile.

"Hi, I'm Emma. I'll be Leon's teacher."

Leon responded to this by clinging onto his father's leg, eyes barely peeking out.

Emma crouched down to his height.

"Hi there, Leon. Want to come with me? We're in the middle of playtime right now. I'm sure we can find someone for you to be friends with."

Leon didn't respond, but looked more curious.

"I see you have a panda. Do you like animals?"

Leon nodded cautiously, stepping closer to her.

Emma's eyes flashed across the 15 or so kids playing in the brightly colored room before coming to rest on a small, silver haired boy playing by himself in a secluded part of the room.

"Emil over there likes animals too. Why don't you go over and talk to him?"

Leon looked at his father, to his teacher, and then back to the little boy Emma had pointed out. Emma noticed the apprehension in his eyes, and extended her hand. With a final glance back at Yao, he grabbed onto her hand.

"Okay."

Emma smiled at Yao.

"Alright! Your son is in good hands, Mr. Wang. See you later!"

Satisfied that Leon would be okay, Yao smiled back and walked out to his car. He was running a bit late for his job, but that was okay. A few minutes late was a few minutes less he had to spend with that _insufferable_ Arthur.

•oOo•

| **Leon** |

After letting go of Miss Emma's hand, (She had run to the other side of the room yelling, "Lovino, don't hurt your brother!") he apprehensively sat next to the boy with silver hair.

The boy turned towards him, abandoning his toy on the ground.

"Who you?"

"Leon."

The boy nodded and began to size him up.

"Why you here?"

"Talk to you." Leon got a better look at the boy before asking, "Purple eyes?"

The boy nodded, before turning around back to his toy. "Yes. My name Emil."

Leon was getting nervous, this boy didn't seem to like him very much... Fine! If he didn't like Leon, then Leon didn't have to like h-

"You have panda." The bo- _Emil_ stated matter-of-factly.

Leon nodded shyly, clutching his panda plushie to his chest.

Emil ducked his head. "Want to play? I have puffin." He held the black and white bird with the bow tie up.

Leon nodded happily, and the two began to play a game with their animals. They were having fun, but then, in the middle of the evil Mr. Puffin shooting down the hero panda, a boy with longish blonde hair, and green eyes walked up to them.

"Like, what you playing?" The new kid asked curiously.

Leon was confused at his sentence. He knew what 'like' meant! Why was the new boy using it that way?

Emil frowned. "Animals. Can play too, but Mr. Puffin is _mine._

The blonde boy shrugged. "Like, whatever. My name Feliks. Who you?"

Okay, now Leon was sure Feliks was using 'like' the wrong way, so he brought it up.

The story of how Feliks became friends with Leon and Emil and subsequently explained the authenticity of using 'like' as a speech tic is a story for next time, as the author is up very late and and does not want to bore you all further. However, the author _will_ tell you it involved a fistfight, a dinosaur, a book, nail polish, and a substantial amount of arguing.

•oOo•

| **Leon** |

Leon sat on the ground, playing cars with his two new friends. Having friends was nice, he decided. They were certainly fun, and they didn't try to dump food on you or force you into sparkly pink outfits like siblings did.

All of the sudden, he was excited to come to school tomorrow! He couldn't wait to play with his new friends, and color with crayons, play music,and listen to Miss Emma read books like she promised. Preschool was, like, looking up!

Whoa. He tried saying the word out loud.

"Like!"

Feliks turned to him. "What?"

He tried the word again. "Like, nothing."

Hmm... That sounded good! He'd have to use 'like' that way more often. Mentally adding the new word to his list, he continued playing cars with Emil and Feliks.

•oOo•

| **Yong Soo** |

The second youngest child ran into his classroom, no persuasion needed. There was a group of kids quietly sitting on the floor, looking up at a man with spiky blonde hair and a wide grin. He decided the situation was _far_ too quiet, so he did what Yong Soo does best. Disrupt things! He ran to the group of kids and shouted,

"I'm here!" And then put his hands on his hips. The class stared in shock for a moment before a boy with pale skin, silver hair, and unnerving red eyes stood up.

"Good try, but zhat vas an amateur move. You have to say it like, 'zhe awesome me is here!'."

A boy with sky blue eyes, a cowlick, and glasses stood up.

"That's not true! You have to say 'the hero has arrived'!" The newer boy struck a pose.

"Liar! It's 'zhe awesome me'!"

"The hero!"

"Awesome!"

"Hero!"

"Awes-"

"How about, 'the awesome hero is here'?" Yong Soo interjected.

The two boys looked at him.

"Zhat's a good idea."

"Dude, that would totally rock!" The blonde boy agreed.

Yong Soo grinned, "Great da-ze! I'll be right back." With that, he raced out the doors, waited a second, burst back through them, and yelled, "The awesome hero is _here!"_ Then proceeding to strike his most heroic pose. It was only then that the teacher spoke.

"That was very good, you three! I'm Mr. Køhler, your teacher. Tell ya what, how'd you like to sit with each other? As long as you pay attention when I need ya to, you can sit there as long as you want."

The three boys exchanged matching grins. Sure, it'd be fun hanging out with their new friends, but think of everything they could _do_ when they put their minds together!

"Okay, now that we've got that settled out, I want everyone to sit in a circle, and take turns introducing yourselves. Tell us your name, and anything else you want!" Mr. Køhler instructed.

"Hmm.. Uh, Roderick! You first."

A boy with dark brown hair, violet eyes, and a small mole began to speak.

"My name is Roderick Edelstein, and I play the piano." Roderick tapped the blonde boy next to him. "This is my best friend, Vash. We're going to get married!"

Vash blushed furiously. "Uhm... My name is Vash Zwilingi, and I have a big sister named Lili. I have three pet goats, and I... I'm marrying Roddy I guess? N-not that I want to! Just, um, because _he_ wants me to. Yeah."

Matthias Køhler barely suppressed a laugh at the boy's obvious distress. Unfortunately, Gilbert, wasn't so lucky.

"Kesesesese!" Gilbert grinned.

Vash turned his piercing gaze onto the albino boy.

"Excuse me?"

"Haha, I zhink it's funny zhat little Roddy even has a date! How _could_ he get vun? Especially ven he's so snobby all zhe time."

Roderick's face contorted in rage. "How _dare_ you! And if I recall, you don't have a date yourself!"

"Do too!" Gilbert grabbed a boy by the shoulder, leading him to the front of the group. The boy had medium-length blonde hair with a stray curl, amethyst eyes, and looked extremely nervous. "Matvey's my date!"

"I, eh..."

Roderick and Gilbert began to heatedly argue, drowning out whatever the shy boy had been about to say.

"Oh, maple..." He whispered, before returning to his spot.

•oOo•

| **Yong Soo** |

The fight was beginning to escalate, and Yong Soo didn't want to see his new friend get hurt, so he decided to step in.

"Stop fighting da-ze!" Well, that was definitely the simplest course of action, and as the two bickering boys stepped away from each other, it seemed to actually be working. With one final glare, the Gilbert and Roderick sat down.

"Zhat brat is such a _dummkoff._ " Gilbert muttered to Alfred and Yong Soo.

Noting the confused looks on their faces, Gilbert explained the the meaning of the German swear word.

"Dude, tell us some more!" Alfred demanded eagerly.

Yong Soo grinned. "Yeah, Roderick seems kinda like a _sekki_."

The boys leaned in eagerly, listening to Yong Soo's explanation of the Korean word.

For the rest of the hour (and whenever they could sneak it in), the boys exchanged swear words in a variety of languages, and had a good time. These were the _perfect_ friends for Yong Soo! He couldn't wait until recess to play outside with them, build things with rocks, and make inappropriate jokes. After all, what are friends for?

 **A/N:**

 **Woohoo! This is a loooooong chapter. And it's only part one! Part two should be out sometime tomorrow, and then I'll combine the two.**

 **In case you didn't know, I actually DO have an update schedule. One every 2 days around 3 am eastern I try to update, but that doesn't always work.**

 **But on to the happy stuff! Next chapter is Tawain, Vietnam, and Japan. I did not include Thailand because I CANNOT MASTER HIS CHARACTER. He will still show up from time to time, but not too often.**

 **Because this IS my first fanfic, any character that didn't show up previously on this fic I am writing for the first time. I think I did pretty good, tell me your opinions!**

 **I'm also working on three other fics, and one will be out soon, so check my profile! Speaking of profiles, I also have a poll up on my profile that allows you to vote for what the next chapter will be about. So hurry up and vote!**

 **These A/N's are verrrrrry long so I'll try and shorten these things up.**

 **ALERT! CHARACTER CHOOSING CONTEST!: I mentioned the names, and features of several characters, but never stated their country names. The first person who puts all 9 country names (note, this does NOT include: China, Taiwan, Mei, Korea, Vietnam, or Japan) into a review gets to choose a character! Good luck finding them all!**

 **RESPONSES TO REVIEWS:**

 **Happy Cake: Sorry, I don't mean to offend. The little SwissAus and PruCan in this chapter is simply kindergarten crushes, nothing serious. :) it is a result of the fact that the author has a love for Vash and felt the need to throw him in here.**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Yup! I don't know if that is actually** ** _possible_** **, but hey, why not? I'm glad you like HK's intros, that was the most fun part to write in the whole chapter.**

 **Guest: Good job! I wasn't sure how many of you guys would get that. AND IM SORRY ABOUT THE BALLROOM DANCING CHAPTER. It** ** _will_** **happen, I've just been teetering on the edge of making it a stand-alone oneshot, as I thought it was a bit dark for this series.**

 **Review! I love to hear from you guys.**


	9. Games Part Two

Japan drummed his fingers on the chair. Why couldn't they play something _else?_ I mean, this was the _12th consecutive time_ Korea had been destroyed by Hong Kong in BS. Why couldn't the kid get it through his thick skull that he wasn't going to win?

"Okay, it's, like, obvious you aren't going to beat me anytime soon, so why don't we play something else?" Hong Kong monotoned.

 _Finally! Thank you, little brother!_

"Hm, Monopoly -ana?" Thailand suggested. Kiku liked Monopoly, but his manga was getting really intense, so he opted to sit this one out.

"Oh come _on_ da-ze! Come play, lazy bones!" Im Yong Soo yelled to Japan. Ignoring his little brother, Kiku buried himself deeper into his manga.

After several seconds of poking, begging, and Yong Soo almost getting his brain bashed in, Japan surrendered and played the classic board game with his family.

It.

Was.

Brutal.

Japan fought well, but in the end, he lost to a well-played (not to mention, illegal) move by China. He didn't get too upset, which, judging by the looks on his siblings' faces, greatly surprised them. There was always next time, after all! Now he had to see what game was next. _Mario Kart, Mario Kart, please!_ He was _king_ at all Nintendo games, but the Mario franchise was his favorite. He knew every cheat, every Easter egg, every nook and cranny. He helped design them!

Taiwan smiled. "Since GēGē won, I think he should get to choose a game!"

Yao shrugged. "I'll play whatever -aru."

He stared at Japan before smiling coyly. "But, since I won, I want a prize aru."

The other nations sighed. It was _so_ like China to demand a prize for even the simplest things.

Noting the slightly annoyed expressions on his siblings' faces, China laughed. "My prize is... I want to play Mario Kart -aru."

"Like, you totally could have said that to start-"

China held up a hand, promptly cutting Hong Kong off.

"Aiyah! Let me finish! I want to play Mario Kart, without Japan."

Japan, not one to easily show emotion, was surprised to feel his jaw drop. Everyone _knew_ his favorite game was Mario Kart! He was positive his elder brother was just trying to spite him. Not that it probably wasn't deserved, of course. He'd done the same to China more times than he could count!

•oOo•

"Wait, does _this_ button make you turn?"

"Hey, that's the character I wanted to pick da-ze!"

"Like, I think mine is dead."

"Hm, that looks like a fun map to play ana!"

Everyone turned towards Thailand.

"Um, _that_ map aru? That one? That one right there aru?" China asked in an amazed tone.

Thailand - happy, sweet, well-mannered, Thailand -

Had just chosen _Luigi's Mansion_ as the map?

He really was an odd guy.

And so the game went on, everyone utterly confused at how to play (It wasn't their first time, of course. They simply tended to stay away from this game when they were around Japan. Far, far away.)

After a full minute of aimless wandering, shouting, and complete chaos, Kiku could no longer take it.

"Drift! For the love of all things holy, Viet-san, drift!" Japan shouted.

Everyone was amazed by this sudden outburst and stopped whatever level of engrossment they were at to stare at their brother.

"I... Gommensai!"

Vietnam tilted her head. "Um... How do you drift?"

Kiku just buried his face into his hands. After a few moments he regained composure and explained how to play, and to his utter surprise... They were _good!_

Korea zoomed around the track, picking up power-ups and laughing like the maniac he is. Taiwan played intelligently, examining the screen for possible short cuts. And Vietnam did her best to knock out anyone with her shells. The others simply tried their hardest, not playing in any specific way. You didn't have to be different at _everything_ , right?

•oOo•

Thailand and Korea were neck-in-neck, with Vietnam close behind, dealing with the effects of an ink splash all over her vision. _Damn you, Hong Kong!_

Kiku actually didn't _mind_ not being in this round. Perhaps next time he'd actually have some formidable opponents!

...If they didn't kill each other by the time this round was over.

Thailand, Vietnam and Korea were the last ones who stood a chance at winning, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan so far behind it was almost funny.

"Go Lien! You can do it!" Taiwan cheered.

Korea shot her a dirty look. "Thanks a lot! Glad I'm so loved, da-ze!" And on that happy note, he pulled ahead. The finish line was in sight! All he had to do was keep cruising along and he'd -

 _Wham!_

The dreaded blue shell spun into Yong Soo's cart, easily knocking him out of first place. Thailand zoomed straight over the finish line, leaving Korea in the dust.

"Guess I wasn't really out of the game, huh?" Hong Kong smirked.

"Da-ze! You son of a -" (extremely creative Korean swearing that the author is uncomfortable typing)

•oOo•

"Are you sure about this, Korea aru?" China raised an eyebrow.

Yong Soo nodded fervently. "Yeah! I got this game from America, he said it was amazing, da-ze!"

"America-san's interpretation of 'amazing' is a bit different than ours." Japan muttered.

Korea laughed. "I know! Isn't it great?"

•oOo•

Korea sat down and loaded up his new game, Slender: The 8 Pages. Wow... That looked /freaky/. Awesome!

"Hey! Guys! Get in here, da-ze!" Korea shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Aiyah! Don't shout aru. We've behind you, and we've _been_ behind you for the past ten minutes!" China snapped.

Yong Soo laughed it off in typical Yong Soo manner (which is to say, at the top of his lungs to annoy China further.)

Vietnam sighed. "Korea we have one computer. How do we all play?"

"Dunno."

Everyone facepalmed. Yong Soo was a smart kid, but sometimes...

"We should each play for two minutes, and then switch ana." Thailand suggested.

Japan sighed. _And so it goes..._

TBC

•oOo•

Sneak peak:

"Look! Another note!" Taiwan screamed.

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

 _Thump._

"Like, what's that sound?" Hong Kong muttered.

 _Thump._

 _Thump_.

Static flashed across the screen, and a screeching noise erupted from the computers.

"Run aru! Move, _quickly_!" China yelled. He didn't really think he would like this game, but it was actually pretty fun.

Taiwan fumbled with the controls. "W-where?! I don't know where to go! Help!"

"Like, anywhere! Just _go_!"

The noise became louder, and the static revealed a man in suit, with a pure white featureless face.

GAME OVER.

Taiwan sighed, then wiped her forehead. "That was scary... You know what? Viet can have my next turn. And the next. And every turn after that."

A screeching noise blared into the room, and the nations turned around towards the source to see something incredible. The man - no - _thing_ from the game stood _right_ behind them.

It was not a coincidence that Korea and Thailand where nowhere to be found.

 **A/N:**

 **Ugh, this chapter was supposed to be longer, and out much sooner. Sorry! Also, these A/N's are very long, so I'm limiting them from now on. Thanks a ton for all your support, guys! The next chapter will either be part three of this chapter, or the character requests. Love you guys!**

 **HELP: I don't like chapter one. Should I delete it? Also, should the school AU become its own fic?**

 **Review responses:**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: :)**

 **Sparks52: We've spoken. The next Human AU chapter should be soon!**

 **happy cake: Heh~ thanks. Don't worry about it! I'm agnostic, but it's still very sweet of you.**

 **MageOfFandoms: That's a cute idea! I'll definitely implement that in later chapters. I can totally see something like that happening. :)**


	10. The First Day Part Two

**|Mei|**

Mei thought of herself as a generally nice person, but did everyone else? What if she wasn't like the other kids? What if she didn't like them? What if they didn't like _her?_ A dozen similar thoughts raced through her head as she peaked into her classroom.

 _Creeeaak._

As soon as Mei stepped through door, she regretted it. Twenty pairs of eyes turned to her, and she was _sure_ she heard someone whispering. _This was a bad idea..._

Suddenly, she was met with an anxious voice.

"I'm sorry! We didn't mean to make you nervous!" A tall woman with a blonde bob fretted.

The woman shook her head and regained composure. "Hi. My name is Ms. Chernenka. You must be Mei!"

Mei nodded and walked into the classroom, a bit uncertain as where to sit in this new place.

"Sweetheart, come stand up here and tell us about yourself."

Mei smiled nervously. _Calm down. It's okay! They'll love me._

"Um... Hi. My name is Mei Wang and I moved here from Monterey Park in California.*"

The class looked on expectantly.

"I have three brothers and one sister. I like fashion, flowers, glitter, and the colour pink! Um, any questions?"

A girl with brown pigtails and two red ribbons raised her hand excitedly.

"What's it like where you used to live? Why'd you move? Who was your best friend?"

Mei stared at the girl, slightly disconcerted by the rapid-fire questions, but answered them to the best of her ability. As she began to talk, she realized she _liked_ this feeling, standing in front of a group of people who wanted to listen to what she had to say. This was her element. Her dream! She resolved that when she grew up, she would have a job like this.

After finishing her speech, Ms, Chenenka directed her to an empty desk next to a pretty girl with wavy brown hair, and an orange flower clip.

"Hi! I'm Lizzy. Want to be friends?" The girl loudly whispered.

 _Well, that was a bit straight forward..._

Mei nodded. "Deal."

Lizzy squealed quietly. "At lunch you can sit next to me and my friends. It'll be really fun!"

Mei smiled, and then turned her focus back to the lesson on the Second World War.

Perhaps this whole 'first grade' thing wasn't going to be as hard as she'd thought!

•oOo•

Mei fumbled her way through the lunch line, doing her best to keep her eyes on Lizzy the whole time. What was lunch going to be like? Ooh! Maybe she'd see some of her siblings there! And then, after lunch, came /recess/. From personal experience (and scary stories told by her family members) Mei knew recess could either be very fun, or very terrible. She really hoped it was the for-

"Honestly, kid. Order already!" A tall dark-skinned man with dreadlocks snapped impatiently.

"I... Um. That!" Mei pointed at a salad. Well, if you could _call_ it that. She _really_ wished that she could have some of her father's cooking. But, no, she was stuck with _this_ slop.

•oOo•

Mei walked through the doorframe into the cafeteria, carefully balancing her food on one hand, while holding hands with Lizzy. Well, actually, it was more like Lizzy had grabbed her hand and begun dragging her through the many rows of tables packed with rowdy looking children.

Suddenly, a large boy slammed into her from the side, and before she knew it, her salad and milk slid from the tray, effectively dousing both her and Lizzy.

 _Uh-oh..._

Lizzy stood in complete shock, as did the boy. Slowly, she turned to Mei.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to spill food on you. I... I'll just go now." And with that, Mei turned on her heel and began to flee from the room.

Lizzy quickly recovered, and called after her new friend. "Hey, it's not your fault! Come back!"

The petite Asian girl couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She dumped _milk and salad_ on her new friend, who really hadn't had a reason to be friends with her at all! Despite her beliefs, she turned and walked back towards the scene.

Lizzy turned towards the boy, and gave him her fiercest death glare.

It was then she did the unexpectable. Grabbing his shirt, pulling him close, and _lifting_ him off the floor.

"Back. Off." She snarled.

On those happy words, she dropped the boy, and her face resumed its normally happy and serene expression.

 _I made a fool of us._ Mei thought, shaking her head sadly. _What is everyone going to think?_

•oOo•

It turned out, everyone was very excited to hear the girls' story. How _dare_ that stupid fourth grader hurt them? It was only after picking the bits of lettuce off of each other's hair, and wiping the milk of their clothing that Mei and Lizzy began to recount their story to the girls. With some exaggeration, of course. Writers' license, right?

 **|Lien|**

The first bit of the school day passed without much event. Lien's teacher had told her the ropes, and assigned her to a buddy to show her around. When the girl's name - Natalya Arslovskaya - had been called, she hadn't even looked up, opting to simply continue to stare at the book on her desk.

Concerned, the teacher called out her name again. "Natalya, mate? Did you hear me?"

One of the kids laughed, a small white fang poking out from the corner of his mouth. "Don't bother. She heard you, she's just to weird to say anything back."

The rest of the class laughed, and the platinum blonde girl shook slightly, doing her best to concentrate and block them out.

The Australian teacher glared at him, and then shot a sympathetic look at Lien. "Crikey! You shouldn't have to see this as soon as y' get here." Lien stared at him. He wasn't going to do _anything?_ The fanged boy and his friend were still tormenting this girl, and she was clearly upset!

"Haha. Look at her, she's getting all twitchy! Aww, looks like the little weirdo can't get her emotions under control." The fanged boy laughed in fake sympathy.

"Hey, look at me, guess who I am!" He made a face and stomped around a small area, pretending to be some sort of hunched over monster.

"Marriagemarriagemarriage. I'm Natalya!"

The teacher sighed, but did nothing. Lien was _done_ sitting and watching that poor girl get bullied. She stood up, and glared at the boy.

"And _that's_ coming from you, vampire?"

The class went silent. It wasn't every day that someone challenged Vladimir Lupei!

"Hey, don't get all upset on me! We haven't even met." He stuck out a hand, and winked at her. "The name's Vladimir. And yours, princess?"

She growled slightly, and ignored his hand. "Lien. Now stop bothering her, or else."

"Fine, fine. Geez, calm down!"

Natalya gasped softly, having watched the whole scene. Lien turned, and nervously smiled at her, causing Natalya to duck her head and stare intensely at the floor, refusing to look up for the rest of the class.

•oOo•

History, math, and literature came and went, and Natalya had still not looked up, or even made a sound. Hopefully, now that it was free period, that would change.

Lien tapped the girl's shoulder. "I heard what Vladimir said."

The Belarusian glared at the floor, snapping the pencil she was holding. Lien resisted sighing, and probed further.

"He said you liked marriage. What's your favorite part?" Natalya's death glare faltered, and she finally looked into Lien's eyes.

"It's stupid, you wouldn't care."

"I would. Please tell me, Natalya."

"I like it when they say the vows, and you can just _see_ how much they love each other." She said in a surprisingly icy voice for such a sweet sentence.

Lien laughed. "That's not stupid! That's really nice."

Natalya brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "You think so?"

"Mhm. My favorite part is..."

Lien and Natalya spent the rest of free period discussing a wide range of things, from weddings, to food, to singing and dancing. And suddenly, Lien realized she had a new friend, who despite being cold, was actually a good person. As they were leaving the classroom to where their parents would pick them up, Natalya stopped.

"You didn't have to help me. Thanks."

Lien shook her head. "Hey, it's what friends do!"

"Friends... W-well. Goodbye, friend."

"Goodbye, Nat."

The girls exchanged smiles, and then went their separate ways.

•oOo•

 **|Kiku|**

Kiku was used to this by now. Sit down, do the work, ignore everyone. The only different thing now, was the school. In a completely bored tone the teacher introduced Kiku, and showed him to an empty desk next to a serene looking boy with green eyes, and slightly wild cinnamon colored hair. He looked completely uninterested in everything, only acknowledging Kiku's presence with a sigh.

Kiku was actually surprised by the curriculum here. It was incredibly easy! Or, maybe that was just him. Honestly though, this needed fixed! Kiku was going to start by no longer raising his hand, and surveying the classroom and see if it was this easy for the other kids.

It wasn't.

That was obviously _immediately_. Kids fumbled, and couldn't solve the simplest of problems! After suffering through twenty minutes of his peers asking idiotic questions, Kiku tried to do something more interesting, and converse with the only other person done with the assignment - the boy next to him.

"Excuse me, but what did you get for problem twelve?" Kiku asked tentatively.

The boy let out a dramatic sigh, and then spoke in a quiet, yet strong voice. "You can't copy off me. Solve it yourself."

"Actually, I did solve it. My answer was x = 5."

The boy's eyes narrowed. "Impossible."

Kiku smiled. "No, take a look. I solved it using a formula called-" He immediately stopped speaking directing his attention to a small lump on his neighbor's lap.

A small, _furry_ lump.

"I-is that a... _Kitten?_ "

The boy sighed. "Yes, yes it is. Please, don't tell anyone!"

"I won't. I like cats too, but, may I ask, why did you bring her?"

"I didn't want to leave her home all by herself. Besides, the neighbor has a _dog_. My name is Heracles, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Heracles-san. Did you know you share the name of a -"

"A Greek hero, I know. He featured greatly in the Odyssey."

Eyes wide, Kiku discussed The Odyssey with his sorta-kinda new friend for a few moments, before remembering they still had a kitten in their midst.

"Heracles-san... I have a plan. During recess tomorrow, we sneak a small cage stocked with items for a cat, and hide it. So then, every morning before school, we can sneak your kitten in there, and then pick it up at the end of the day!"

Heracles tilted his head suspiciously, and then smirked. "Genius."

And coming from Heracles, that was a pretty big compliment.

 **A/N:**

 **Yay! Another chapter, and fast! You guys deserve for being so amazing. Next up is the character request for Australia and England, and then after that, the Baltics!**

 **I got multiple people saying this should be it's own fic, and I agree. This would be so much fun! It'll go from childhood, to elementary school, to middle school, through Highschool, college, and finally, adulthood.**

 **Note: There will most likely be** ** _no_** **OC's in this fic. Anyone wanna guess who bumped into Mei?**

 ***Monterey Park in California has a super high Asian population, and that's why I picked it.**

 **Vlad: I don't hate him, contrary to how I portrayed him. In fact, I really like his character! He's really high on my favorites list.**

 **Thanks for all your support, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Happy Cake: Aww, you really think so? I'm so glad.**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Hehe. Thanks! I'm getting on the requests now.**

 **msneko7: Hmm. I never really thought about either of those. I'm not a huge fan of steampunk, but a magic AU sounds cool. Like, perhaps something with Leon? Due to his relations with Iggy and all. :)**

 **Maya5392: Mwahahaha! You're gonna have to wait a bit longer. You don't need to thank me! I love writing for you guys. (But hey, if you wanna keep going, I'm not telling you to stop! ;) )**

 **Awesome: 1) Okay, maybe you're right. I might go back and edit it though. SO CHEESY IM GONNA DIE. 2) :D**

 **Sparks52: Let me just say, your review is** ** _so_** **appreciated. Thanks! I try to integrate you guys into this story as much as possible, but I've seen where people basically end up taking over, and that's no fun :(. Also, I only send messages to people who have won contests, or when I just can't wait to reply! I just kinda like replying to people in the A/N. :)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia, Slender, or anything else that I mentioned here. I just own this crazy, messed up AU. (I own something! Yay! Mom, aren't you proud of me?)**


	11. Unproductive, Part One

**Unproductive, Part One.**

 **Dedication: This mini fic came from Hinotori-himi 's character request for the Baltics, and is therefore dedicated to her. Enjoy!**

 **IMPORTANT: This chapter isn't totally Asian centric. It majorly features other characters as well, but our Asia family is still there.**

 **REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT: mimi-chan and aliling-chan, and Maya5392, I have your requests part-way done, and already uploaded. It's in the form of a** ** _brand new multi-chapter story_** **and is posted on my page! Check it out! (This goes to all you other readers too, seriously, while this may be dedicated to these two wonderful people, it's meant for** ** _everyone_** **!)**

 **WARNINGS: Violence, (light) swearing, inaccuracies, the author butchering characters' accents, and French.**

 _Once again, this meeting is completely unproductive_. China sighed, staring at the boisterous American jabbering on about whatever. The Asian nation had stopped paying attention long ago.

"Quiet! Ve are obviously getting nowvhere, so please, for the love of Gott, stop!" Germany snapped, the hot Texas climate obviously getting to him.

Instantly, the room (minus the crying Northern Italian) went silent. Germany tended to have that effect on people.

England rolled his eyes. "He's right. Sit down, America! Let someone who understands a lick about politics speak."

France smirked, and flipped a golden lock over his shoulder, his beloved hair staying magnificent despite the heat. "And whom would zat be Angleterre? I 'eard you were at the pub last night. You're probably 'ead over 'eels drunk!"

England jumped upwards from his seat. "It wasn't _that_ much alcohol, wanker!"

Laughing, France's voice dripped with false sympathy. "But with you, eet doesn't 'ave to be, _non_?

The two began to engage in their customary bickering, leaving everyone else to sit back and enjoy the show. Nearly five minutes later, China noticed multiple stares gravitating towards him, obviously waiting for China to interfere with some sort of snack.

"What, aru? I don't care anymore." And as soon as the words were out of his mouth, China knew they were true. He didn't care anymore.

"Every meeting, they all end up the same. We never talk about anything of importance aru! Some of us try, but no one cares. You have a country to look after, aru!" Every nation had their eyes on China, jaws open.

"Stop acting like children, and deal with your economy." China stared pointedly at Greece.

He gestured towards Russia. "Your crime rate."

And with a final, almost feral glare directed towards America. "And your _debt_ , aru."

China began gathering up his papers. "When you reach a decision to do _something_ come get me. Until then, sort out your own problems instead of letting some of the more _responsible_ nations deal with them, aru."

Yao Wang tossed his ponytail over his shoulder, and then walked out of the room with his head held high.

After a few moments of bewildered silence, the scraping of a chair against the floor was heard, and all eyes were upon its occupant- Germany.

"I agree. Don't expect anymore bailouts!" The man's voice was laced with anger, and... Was that disgust? Germany followed the route China had just taken, and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

A gunshot was heard, and a certain Swiss nation stood up. "Your petty arguments get you nowhere! Take a hint, and _fix things_!" He stormed out, gun over shoulder, leaving Liechtenstein to scramble behind him while sending apologetic glances towards her fellow nations.

•oOo•

After the astonishing blowup several others had filed from the room, and locked the door behind them, leaving the rest to sit in shock and self-pity.

"That was totally uncool, dudes!" America yelled.

"Like, they totally had no right to say that to us." Poland muttered, twirling a stray lock of hair.

"If it wasn't Yao-Yao I would rip him limb from limb and feed him to my dogs, da?" Ivan smiled, while simultaneously squeezing an extremely uncomfortable Raivis.

Lithuania sighed. "Mr. Russia, y-you must admit he had a p-point! We all h-have problems, including him, b-but at least he's trying to work them out!"

Toris glanced at the small Latvian tangled in Russia's grasp.

"Also... C-can you p-please let go of Latvia? H-he's... A bit uncomfortable."

Russia frowned stubbornly. "Nyet! You shouldn't talk to me like that, da? Apologize."

Lithuania braced himself, doing his best to stay strong. "I-I'm sorry, but it's true, M-Mr. Russia."

Ivan glared with an inhuman cruelty, causing Lithuania to shudder even more than usual. _That's foolish_ He chided himself. _Certainly Russia wouldn't pull anything_ _ **here**_ _,_ _right?_

"Toris~ What am I going to do with you?" Ivan sang with false happiness, lightly twisting his metal pipe around in his hand.

Estonia bit his lip, and glanced at the defiant Baltic state. "Apologize, please! This won't get us anywhere." He hissed nervously.

Lithuania ignored his friend, and stared directly into Ivan's face.

 _Wham!_

Ivan swung his pipe, and the hard metal collided with the Lithuanian's head.

"Like, what the hell? Back off, or I'll totally make Warsaw your capital!" Poland screeched.

"Nyet, I'd like to see you try."

The small Polish man let out an ungodly scream, and launched himself at the Russian, digging his well manicured nails into his neck. Ivan balked, and attempted to shrug him off, but Feliks held tight, causing as much pain as possible - without ruining his hair, of course. In a matter of minutes, the anger-fueled attack had become a full on brawl, every nation taking the opportunity to damage someone or something, leaving Lithuania to crawl underneath a table, and hope for the best.

Toris rubbed his head, hoping to soothe the aching in his skull. _I should've just stayed quiet..._

He leaned back, his head finding it's way to something soft, and attempted to rest.

"Nice of you to drop in, da-ze!" A cheery voice came from behind him. Instantly, Lithuania shot upwards, staring at the Korean nation.

"W-why are you h-here?" Lithuania stuttered unbelievingly.

"Couldn't I ask you the same thing? You did just try and nap on my shoulder, da-ze."

Lithuania blushed. "I-I.. Um-"

"Haha, does your head hurt?"

Lithuania stared unbelievingly at the teen. _Well, I was just hit by a pipe, what do you think, Korea?_

"Oh, right, da-ze!"

The two nations sat in silence, until Lithuania asked a question that'd been bugging him.

"F-forgive me for a-asking, but w-why aren't you out there? Y-you seem l-like the type to enjoy this."

Korea shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It just feels like I'd be participating further in what GēGē said _not_ to do. I'm really not as stupid as you all take me to be."

"I don't think you're stupid." Toris murmured thoughtfully. "Just... Loud. And flamboyant. And hyperactive. But you're a teenager, so I suppose you're allowed to be."

"Yeah, but the thing is, I've been a teenager for centuries, da-ze. So it doesn't really- Hey! You didn't stutter! Does that mean you're getting more-"

Korea wiggled his eyebrows. " _Comfortable_ around me?"

Toris laughed, and shoved him away. "Not in _that_ sense."

 _I've found a person who cares enough to listen_.

•oOo•

Hong Kong was _so_ done with these people. Yeah, well, maybe he wasn't the most responsible nation either, but he wasn't the one, like, scratching peoples' eyes out! Speaking of eyes... Who was back there? Two wide amethyst orbs peeked out from the shadows of a closet, behind a layer of boxes, surveying the blood battle.

"Hey? Like, who's there?"

The eyes retreated further into the gloom.

"Like, come out. Who _are_ you?"

There was no movement, and whomever was in the closet stayed hidden.

Leon gave an exaggerated sigh, his face still maintaining it's bored, monotone position. "Seriously, like, you can't just hide in the closet, there's like... Stuff in there." That _was_ true. Historical articles, meeting plans, video tapes, _weapons_ , and was that... _Cake_? Piled up on top of each other, items precariously threatening to crash to the floor. Ugh, America really _was_ irresponsible.

Whomever had barricaded themselves within the mess simply, if possible, shrunk backwards, eyes blinking rapidly.

 _They're terrified..._

Hong Kong internally groaned, preparing the voice and subsequent expression he saved especially for frightened animals and coaxing Iceland off the chandelier. (Long story.)

"Hey..." Hong Kong smiled slightly, his amber eyes warm and comforting. "It's okay. I won't, like, hurt you. Come on out."

And _finally_ , the nation, (or person, he couldn't really be sure.) began to proceed from the closet, shifting boxes as he crawled out. Unfortunately, shifting things in here was /not/ a good idea. One thing lead to another, and and an entire row of items came crashing down. Hong instantly reached forward and grabbed the closet's occupant by the collar, yanking him forward. But, it wasn't fast enough, as the fluorescent green colored cake went smashing down onto the head of the unknown person.

"Owww..." He whined, wiping green goop from his head and shirt, desperately attempting to get the sticky substance off of him.

"Latvia." Hong murmured.

The shaking nation's head instantly shot up, and he stared at Hong Kong with pure terror.

"Like, calm down! I'm going to see if I can get you a towel or something. Stay, like, right here okay?"

Raivis nodded fervently, leaving Leon to feel slightly guilty, though he wasn't sure why.

•oOo•

A few moments later, Hong had come back with a wet washcloth, a hand towel, and a stain stick.

"Like, here." He held the items out, doing his best to be as gentle as possible with the both mentally and physically fragile nation.

Raivis stared at the ground, not meeting Hong's eyes, instead just staring at the floor, watching gobs of icing - if you could even call it - drip from his hair. Hong Kong tossed the lightweight items over, hoping the nation had better reflexes then he outwardly showed.

He didn't.

Raivis instantly screamed, and shielded himself as if avoiding a blow. Leon quickly backed up, and held up his hands in what he hoped to be a calming way.

"Whoa, like, hush. I just gave you some stuff to clean up, you're, like, making a mess."

The trembling Baltic nation slowly picked up the supplies, tucking them underneath his arm.

"Dry off, and then we can, like, head to bathroom and try and get all the stuff out of your hair."

"Okay." Latvia murmured softly, and followed Hong Kong into the bathroom.

•oOo•

The monotonous Asian nation held out his hand. "Here, like, give me your shirt, I'm going try and fix it."

Latvia shuffled his feet, and drew back slightly. "Oh... It's really o-okay, I can-"

Leon snorted. "Like, seriously, it's fine. I've got it."

And so, Raivis handed his shirt over to Leon, and the stood in silence, until someone finally spoke up.

"So... You're like, my age, right?"

"I-I'm fifteen."

Hong Kong nodded thoughtfully. "So... Like, what do you do for fun?"

"I... Ah, it's s-stupid."

Hong waved his hand, and looked expectantly at Latvia.

"I... I like p-poetry. And..." He gulped, and his next words were barely above a whisper. _Romance novels._ "

Leon let out a rare laugh, but it wasn't cruel, or condescending. It was a laugh of understanding. "You'd get along well with my sister. She's into, like, all that gooey stuff too."

"T-Taiwan?"

"Yeah, you two should, like, go out sometime."

Latvia was astonished at the ease he said these words, but then again, Hong Kong was a pretty easy going guy.

"Here." Hong shoved the shirt back at Raivis. "I got the stain out."

"Thanks..."

Raivis turned around, and slid the shirt on, before hearing a startled gasp from Leon.

"Your back... Like, what the hell happened?"

Latvia trembled. "Oh... I-It's just Russia. Things l-like this happen sometimes."

Hong's face twisted into an expression of disgust. "Next time he does that, like, call me up, or just come over, okay?"

"C-come over? But what about China?"

"Hey, we're friends. Besides China hates that guy. Like, seriously."

"Friends..." Latvia whispered.

"So, like, I'm gonna head back, and see if I can do anything. See you around?"

"Yeah..."

And with that, they parted ways.

 _Despite everything... I made a friend._

 **A/N: And that, everyone, is part one! I am lazy, and therefore it'll be another two days or so before part two is up. (Seriously, I promise.) I SHOULD HAVE PUBLISHED THIS WAY EARLIER I AM SO LAZY AND I GOT LIKE NO REVIEWS SO I WASN'T MOTIVATED I'M SO SORRY! (Hint hint...)**

 **Also, remember that any characters not previously in the story I am writing for the first time EVER. Tell me what you think, and how I could improve!**

 **But anyways, you guys are the best. Check out the other story on my page! You'll like it if you like this series. I think. Love you all so much! See you guys, next chapter...**


	12. New Names & Fireworks

**Japan: 8**

 **Taiwan: 6**

 **South Korea: 5**

 **Hong Kong: 2-3 (no specific age)**

 **China: ?**

Yao looked out the window, watching as his three charges ran around in his yard, playing with the neighbor children. The fourth, and youngest child, laid lazily in Yao's arms, amber eyes staring with boredom at his surroundings.

"Xiang..." He cooed softly. "Xianggang..." Hi nuzzled the child, hoping to get some sort of reaction.

Hong Kong simply stared, and proceeded to gently gnaw on his sleeve.

"You're a lost cause, aru." China snorted, shifting the boy around in his arms.

 _Bang_.

The door slammed open, and there was the sound of multiple feet stomping _And probably scuffing..._ the floor.

"Mother! I'm home, da-ze!" Korea screamed with as much force his five year old self could manage.

China rolled his eyes at the younger one's irritating nickname and arrogance.

"So, aru. Did you have fun?"

Japan nodded thoughtfully, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Yes. They were very kind, but rather o-"

"They were awesome, da-ze! They even gave me this!" Korea dangled fireworks in front of his guardian's face. Barely fazed, Yao simply plucked them from Korea's hand, at set the explosives on top of a cupboard, where (hopefully) none of the children could reach. Hong Kong reached out a small hand, lingering over the foreign objects for barely a moment before returning to his solidarity.

"Aiyaa! We can set them off tonight, okay aru?" China raised an eyebrow.

Korea shrugged, as long he got to explode something, he didn't really care when.

China proceeded to set the table for dinner, balancing Hong in one arm, and multiple plates in another. As soon as they began to eat, however, it was obvious something was wrong. It wasn't like dinner was _silent_ or anything. That was easily taken care of by Korea, who seemed to _never stop shouting._ No, the disturbance manifested itself in a different way, which was definitely not going to be passed over by China. Taiwan repeatedly sighed, and her chocolate colored eyes seemed almost fixed on her plate.

"Taiwan, are you feeling alright?" Yao prodded gently.

Taiwan let out a startled gasp, and quickly nodded. "Y-yes?"

China barely suppressed a laugh, the little girl was definitely not going to achieve a career in acting. "It's alright, aru. You can tell me."

She simply bit her lip and pushed an egg roll around her plate.

 _She obviously doesn't want to talk about it, aru..._ Yao made a mental note to ask later, and continued eating.

•oOo•

The rest of the day continued in a mostly ordinary way - Japan honing his writing skills, Korea further annoying everyone in the household (and occasionally out if it), China taking care of business abroad, and Hong Kong doing absolutely nothing - save eating and sleeping. It seemed that everyone's day was going perfectly normally.

Except for Taiwan's.

She flitted from activity to activity, room to room, person to person, but she couldn't forget for the life of her the information she'd learned outside. Finally, China managed to catch her alone, proceeding to immediately pelt her with questions.

Was she hurt?

Was someone rude?

Was she sick?

Was it Korea?

Taiwan quickly shook her head, (simultaneously resisting the urge to claim that it / _was/_ , in fact, Korea's fault) no, it was not these things.

She opened her mouth and quickly blurted out, "W-why don't we have names?!"

•oOo•

Whatever Yao had expected, it certainly wasn't that. He supposed it was logical - after all, he had a name, why shouldn't she? After a long silence, he opened his mouth to reply with some sort of comfort, only to be abruptly cut off by the Taiwanese child.

"And don't say they aren't important! Those kids all have names, and you have a name, and your friends have names and-" She panted heavily, tears streaking down her face.

"I want a name too! And not just 'Taiwan' because they said that's a country name, and it doesn't count!" She stomped her foot stubbornly, her eyes not wavering from their determined glare.

China let out a tiny snort, and crouched down to her level. "Alright, what would you like your name to be, aru?"

Taiwan stood stock still, she really hadn't anticipated that response. "Er... I get to choose?"

Nodding in encouragement, Yao waited.

Taiwan's eyes widened, and she began to babble, waving her hands around. "How do you choose a name? Does a name have to have rules or can I just make something up or maybe choose a name of something that already exists - do you think two people can have the same name because I think that might not work well I mean how would you know who was talking to-"

"Aiyaa! Hush! A name is very important, and you'll have it for a very long time. You don't need to decide right now. Give it some thought, aru."

The young girl looked up, unsure of how to proceed. "I... Don't know how names work."

"And...?"

Her eyes filled with anticipation and worry, Taiwan cocked her head. "Can you... Pick one for me? Maybe?"

"This is your name... Don't you want to pick it?" China fidgeted with his ponytail.

Taiwan looked once again on the verge of tears. Hoping to avoid it, Yao quickly looked at the first object he saw, and called out the name.

"Mei! How about Mei? It's the Mandarin name of your flower!" China braced himself for the oncoming storm but to his utter surprise... She actually seemed to like it! Grinning widely, Taiw... _Mei/_ , bounced on her heels.

"I love it! Thank you thank you thank you thank y-"

"You're welcome, aru. Are you sure you want to keep it this way? You'll have it for a very-"

"Korea! Guess what guess what guess what!" Mei screamed, cutting Yao off abruptly. Several crashes and bangs resounded throughout the house, and in a matter of seconds Korea was standing in the doorway, disheveled and all, Japan standing behind him with an almost bored look. (And who could blame him, it wasn't like occurrences like these were very _rare_ in the East Asia household.)

"I got a name, I got a name..." Mei sing-songed.

Japan's eyebrows rose, and he turned towards China for reassurance. After receiving an explanation, accompanied by a certain 6 year old's high-pitched singing, the other two did the obvious thing- beg to get whatever their sister had gotten.

•oOo•

"Aiyaa..." China mutter, plucking the paintbrush from Korea's hand. After recieving his human name - Im Yong Soo - Korea would _not stop writing it_. Walls, scrolls, furniture, animals... Whatever. You name it, Yong Soo attempted to put his name on it.

Japan had opted for a simple name. Kiku, the Japanese name for Chrysanthemum. No less excited about this sort of 'rite-of-passage' then his siblings, Kiku simply had a calmer, less chaotic way of showing it.

Only after watching Mei, Yong Soo, and Kiku safely make it outside to play did China feel he could truly relax. Maybe, just maybe, today he could take a break from foreign affairs and chaos, and rest.

 _Yeah, like that was going to happen._

But to his surprise, Yao seemed to be able to settle down pretty well. His book was interesting, the temperature was nice, Xiang (which was the most voted name for Hong Kong, given that he couldn't pick his own.) was down for a nap, and every few minutes he'd hear an exuberant scream from Korea reassuring him that the children were indeed still alive. After about a half-hour, China closed his eyes, and tried to let his mind drift off.

That was when he began to smell smoke.

•oOo•

Racing into the kitchen as fast as he could, he found Hong Kong fully awake and to his eldest family member's astonishment... Smiling?! Xiang's sudden mood switch wasn't something that immediately bothered him though. He was much more concerned with the _lit fireworks_ sparkling on the wooden floorboards. Yao quickly stamped out the sparks and lifted up Hong, and once he was assured that the child was _not_ on fire, cuddled him on the couch.

"You're quite the problem, aren't you aru?"

Hong Kong just made a face, and resumed his attempts to grab the now squished sparklers.

They sat that way for awhile, just relaxing and enjoying each others company.

 _Bam_.

The door slammed open, and Taiwan ran crying into the living room.

"Those kids said they have _two_ names!"

 **A/N:**

 **SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY REAAAALLLLLY SORRY.**

 **You guys don't deserve this unplanned hiatus, and I promise that it's OVER. For real. Every week, I'll pump out a new chapter. With quite a few things happening to me, and school starting up again, I just haven't been able to focus on writing.**

 **I have absolutely no idea if this is on par with my previous writing or not, but I'm trying. Leave your compliments and criticism below - it was mainly your lovely reviews that got me back on track!**

 **REVIEW RESPONSES:**

 **Hinotori-Hime: Thank you so much! Since it's been so long, I don't remember if I responded already... But yes! A part two will eventually surface! (Featuring Estonia and Korea) I'm glad you liked it, it's my priority after A New Life.**

 **Happy Cake: Aww, thanks.**

 **Guest: Uh... What do you mean? Every update is an actual one! XD**

 **mimi-chan & aliling-chan: That sounds tough... Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Maya5392: *nervous laughter* Yes... I went a bit overboard. My apologies. :)**


	13. Unproductive, Final Chapter

**NOTE: This, however it may seem, is not a shipping fic. I can't write romance, and despite what this MAY look like to all you corrupted shippers (just kidding, I love you) out there... I DO NOT SHIP TAWIAN x ESTONIA. This is not intentional romance, but if you want to see it that way, be my guest, but please don't get upset when I don't go hard-core. Also, I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE I WAS PUTTING LITHUANIA x KOREA OUT THERE OR LATVIA x HK. Please, I have a bazillion messages about people not wanting this to be a Yaoi fic... AND IT'S NOT. That is all, carry on.**

 **WARNINGS: The author forgetting how to write coherently, and light swearing. Mild fluff.**

 _ **Now, let us begin with Unproductive Part 2.**_

Mei was angry. Why? Well, it might've had something to do with the fact that the entire conference room was in shambles, and her friends and family were most likely being pummeled in there - or in some cases, doing the pummeling.

Still in mild shock from the outburst of China, Germany, and Switzerland, Taiwan was processing the words they had said. _It's true, none of really do anything in these meetings_. Maybe... Maybe this could change! If they took heart to China's words, and instead of arguing actually solved their own problems, things would get better!

Taiwan slumped down against the outer wall of the building in despair. _Good luck getting them to feel the same way._

She didn't really even know if she wanted to talk to them, seeing when she'd crawled through the cracked open window, everyone was attacking everyone - with the exception of France. She didn't know _what_ France was doing. Nevertheless, she'd come out here to muse, and escape the chaos of the indoors, fully intending to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, we all know things rarely go as we intend them to.

"Why are you outside?" An unfamiliar voice queried.

Taiwan bolted upwards, fighting stance ready, and stared into the eyes of... Uh, who was this? A tall, blonde teen adjusted his thick-rimmed glass and gave her a calm smile. "You noticed the window too, I assume?"

"Yes... I came out here to think about what China said. He's right, don't you think?" Taiwan challenged him to disagree with a light glare.

"Very. You're Taiwan, aren't you?" He eased himself down on the grass next to her. _Think, girl, think! What does he personify?!_

"Estonia!" She nearly shouted.

Mei laughed, "Sorry, I got a little excited there."

"Don't worry about it." Estonia grinned along with her.

His voice lost it's business-like edge. "So... You agree with what China said, right? What's your plan of action?"

"I haven't really gotten that far. I'm guessing it won't work very well to just burst in and tell them to get to work?"

Estonia snorted. "Probably not. Look at what they've turned a few words into already - a full on brawl!"

They sat in silence for a few moments more, before Taiwan spoke up.

"Why don't you tell me about your plan then, smart guy?" She suppressed a giggle at his surprised expression, and watched closely.

"I guess we just... Take it slow. Start refusing the things they don't work to get, and watch them become a bit more self-dependent." Estonia pursed his lips.

"Not bad! However... I think I've got another plan that might be a little quicker."

Mei leaned over and began talking animatedly, and the Baltic nation couldn't help but to agree.

•oOo•

After sneaking around to the front of the building, Mei and Eduard combined their strength to unbolt the lock, and heave open the thick steel conference doors, pushing them into the wall with a satisfying _dong._ Instantly, the entire room froze in various positions - Prussia shoving Austria into a cabinet, Hungary subsequently beaning the self-proclaimed 'awesome' ex-nation with her customary frying pan, Poland on top of Russia's head, Hong Kong practicing his Jackie Chan moves on South Italy, and France- ugh, they didn't need to see whatever that pervert was attempting to do.

"You're free to go!" Taiwan shouted. Cheers echoed through the room, and nations rushed for the door.

"On two conditions." Estonia chimed in. Everyone re-froze, watching Taiwan move the deadbolt back and forth, back and forth. Whether or not they would get out of that room tonight would most likely depend on whether or not they listened to the duo's next commands.

"A: When you walk out this door, promise everyone one thing you're going to do to fix things up in your nation."

The remaining personifications exchanged glances. This wasn't so bad!

"B: Apologize to everyone whom you hurt today."

Never mind, it _was_ 'so bad'. The second proclamation caused an immediate uproar, and many nations looked upset, or downright disgusted with the idea of apologizing to _anyone._

Estonia raised an eyebrow, and let go of the door, calmly watching it fall back into place.

"Wait! For God's sake, we'll apologize! Just keep the bloody door open." England snarled.

America laughed loudly, and walked confidently up to Taiwan. "Since I'm the hero, I'll go first! I'm going create - get this - a _giant superhero_ to stop global warming! Awesome, right?"

"Not as awesome as zhe awesome me!" Prussia called out, Gilibird chirping in affirmation.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever dude! And as for apologies, I'm totally sorry I called you an broke old man, England. You're not broke, dude. You might be old and make really bad decisions, but I'm 80% sure you're not broke!" Alfred flashed a dazzling smile at Mei and Arthur.

Eduard shrugged, with America, that was probably as close to an apology as you'd get.

Poland stepped forward next, studying his pink glossed nails. "I'm gonna, like, improve relations with my nearby countries. Also..." Poland dragged out a sigh like it pained him.

"I'm sorry I scratched up your face, Russia. That was like, mega rude, even it was totally the right thing to do." Feliks glanced at the bulky Russian nation.

"Apology accepted, da!" Ivan's face was sunny and happy, almost childlike in appearance.

Mei nodded at Poland, and he strutted through the doors.

People slowly advanced forwards, making their way through hopeful promises, and backhanded apologies to the freedom of the outdoors. Taiwan sensed it becoming bit by bit more sincere, the personifications truly wanted to make the world a better place - even if they didn't really have any clue on how to go about it. Within a matter of minutes, the last remaining nation- Russia, made his way through the doorway with a big smile, and thoughts about sunflowers, and Taiwan and Estonia could finally go home.

"I really hope those promises meant something..." Mei murmured.

"So do I. Luckily, I have them all recorded for future reference." Eduard grinned, holding up a tiny microphone.

Taiwan laughed breezily. "Nice going there, Sherlock Holmes."

"I'm pretty into electronics. Speaking of which... Can I have your cellphone number?"

They exchanged contact information, and parted ways to their separate lives, far far away from each other.

 _I've found a person who cares enough to listen. -_ Lithuania and South Korea

 _Despite everything... I made a friend. -_ Latvia and Hong Kong

 _Maybe with time, we can change the world for the better._ \- Estonia and Taiwan

 **A/N: Hey again! Did ya miss me? I hope I didn't mess this up too badly. I've got a four day weekend, so I'm going to start on the long awaited ballroom dancing chapter. Also, I'm gonna go back and edit the previous part of Unproductive - several of you were worried that it was really sexual. It wasn't intended to be, but I'll do my best to fix it.**

 **Review responses:**

 **MageOfFandoms: That means so much to me! BTW, are you Ace? (Your profile picture looks like the Asexual flag) I'm kinda get excited whenever I see recognition for them.**

 **mimi-chan and aliling-chan: Yup, haha!**

 **FluffyKittens (guest): Thank you. :)**

 **Maya5392: Yeah, I guess I see where you're coming from. My name is... Definitely a representation of my work. It's really cool that Yao is a unisexual name! Mwahahaha, more reasoning to believe China is secretly a female. Also, Korea's name writing hobby was my favorite part of writing the chapter. XD**

 **Viofan238: I'm glad.**

 **NoveltyRose: Yay! You actually came! I'm very happy you enjoyed it, your praise is very heartwarming.**


	14. Of Ballroom Dances and Death

**A/N: I am lazy, excuses excuses, blah blah. I'm also not giving this up, but I'm not making updating promises. P.S: GO CHECK OUT 'A New Life' ON MY ACCOUNT, I COMPLETELY CHANGED THE FIRST CHAPTER. Anyways, this chapter is based off of real history. The empress was a real woman, and yes, she really was assassinated by the Japanese, and she encouraged Korea & Russia relations, AND she disliked balls, parties, etc. but she was married, and not as young as I'm portraying her to be. **

Korea knew that Myeongseong, or Min, as he'd taken to calling her, was /far/ from the traditional empress from the day she was crowned. For one thing, his flirting seemed to have no effect! How weird? She didn't like tea parties or balls! And she (politely) denied his bouquet of flowers! After several well-placed winks, and a shower of compliments, most women were all blushes and a-fluttering lashes.

But not Min. She sat at the humongous conference table, arms propped up, dark eyebrows pulled together in a thoughtful half-frown. She focused on politics, and the economy, which was intriguing for some reason to her.

It was only when she shoved him into a lake that Korea realized he'd met his true love. He spent endless hours pouring over books he for some reason owned, and learned as much as he could to impress her. The old cracked leather covers felt as if they were about to crumble beneath his fingers, but he (quite valiantly) trekked on. China visited his home, and if he hadn't been so engrossed within the admittedly boring pages, he might've laughed at the look of blatant shock on the typically cool and composed features of his wldest brother.

"Aiyaa! What are you- I have _never_ seen you... Are you actually taking an _interest_ in your country's policies, aru?" China gaped, scarlet red hanfu barely touching the disgusting floor.

Korea had been inside for days, and now hastily eaten rice caked the expensive wooden slats, along with dark ink smattered, not unlike blood, in an singular area, only definable if you looked carefully, which China was doing. Not hiding his clear disdain for the unsightly surroundings, he nudged a clump of rice with his foot. Korea broke away his tired, yet eager eyes away from the yellowed pages (it definitely wasn't him that got a tea stain on the pages, hah, no way!) and looked up at China's amber eyes, which were studying him with a reserved amount of concern and pity.

"Are you here on business, Gēgē? Is there something I can help you with? I am working, da-ze..." Korea murmured listlessly.

China, after lecturing rather harshly about taking care of oneself, left his home. Korea would have to remember to thank him for the plant he placed in the latter's room, in an attempt to freshen up the place.

China's lecture had struck true. Korea assumed he'd learned enough to wow the beautiful Myeongseong, he decided to sleep long enough to convince his housekeeper he was dead, or at least in a coma. (It had happened before) Korea began to clean himself up. He bathed, put on fresh robes that didn't look as if they'd been through Hell, and combed his hair. Deciding that he looked sufficiently gorgeous, Korea strode out of his house, and to the palace.

Min was going to love this!

 **~Time Skip brought to you by Toto, Thailand's elephant ~**

Myeongseong didn't love it. For one thing, when attempting to lean casually on a tree, he slipped and fell into the pond. When he emerged, soaked from the waste down, she seemed more interested in shoving him away.

Whatever. He'd try again.

 **~Time Skip brought to you by the small white dog Japan carries around~**

This time, Min spoke to him! And not because she was forced to! They actually got to converse about politics, which due to his obsessive studying he actually understood. She wanted to speak with him again! She wanted to- oh... _oh..._

She wanted to talk to him during a meeting with Russia.

Just _great._

 **~Time Skip brought to you by Japan's previously adopted panda~**

Russia was huge. That was Korea's first impression of the man with the tan overcoat and the pink scarf. Of course, the two had 'met' before. Well, if you counted meeting as Korea getting the heebie jeebies from looking at the boulder of a man from across the table.

The topic of the meeting was one that held great influence over the nation: Preventing Japan from invading more. Getting invaded wasn't much fun, Korea knew that from experience.

Russia proposed his ideas, all the while maintaining a serene smile (Which Korea totally was not creeped out by, thank you very much!) Myeongseong was diplomatic and courteous, and Korea interjected his opinions with fancy words, only some of which he knew the meaning of.

Finally, they'd made plans for some sort pf meet to improve relations between the two nations. Min sat, looking rather stumped, arms crossed as she dove into thought. Russia made no contributions, just gently tugging on his faded pink scarf. Momentarily, Korea wondered how old the relic was.

Glancing between his two (reluctantly in the case of Russia) adversaries, he was surprised that neither seemed to have a clue as to what to do. It seemed rather obvious to Korea!

"Da-ze! A ball! We throw a party, right?" He stammered slightly, sliding away from Russia.

"You know, we invite all the important people, and wear fancy clothes, and... and..." The 16 year old shifted uncomfortably.

Russia slid his chair back, the wooden feet scraping against marble tile, and stood up. "I have no objections! I will see you all on October 10th, da? Goodbye, friends."

The man's smile grew more genuine, and he departed the room, and any room for argument left with him. Myeongseong waved briefly to the strangely attired man, before turning to Korea, red lips drawn into a scowl.

"I hate parties." She murmured

"Hey, you can't possibly hate a party if I'm there, right? " Korea grinned.

"No one ever told you that humbleness is attractive, have they?" Min raised an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly with the effort of trying not to laugh.

"Nope! Well, maybe, but I probably just ignored them, da-ze!"

"Goodbye, Yong Soo." Myeongseong smirked, and strolled out of his line of vision, laughing softly.

Korea's grin stretched wider than ever.

 **~Montage, like, brought to you by Hong Kong~**

For the two months, Korea's happiness only grew and grew. First, it was the small smiles she gave him on occasion. Then the quick greetings they exchanged around town. He felt as if his heart was about to explode when she accepted his offer to walk through the town gardens with him. She talked diplomacy with him, and battle tactics were thrown right and left until they fired of that topic. They moved to each other's lives, discussing their past experiences (which Korea had plenty of) and they're families, or lack thereof in Min's case.

Both of them had seen the gardens before, so that wasn't what their main focus on, despite the beautiful flora around them. They weren't in love, despite the cliché garden walk. Not exactly, at least. They were friends, neighbors, rulers, but they had known each other for far too short a time to really fall for each other.

But, as Korea knew, a few months could be a lifetime.

 **~Time Skip brought to you by the lovely Taiwan, jewel of the Japanese Empire.~**

The ballroom wasn't exactly what Korea planned. For one thing, it wasn't even a ballroom. It was a pavilion. He asked a few women (with the help of his killer smile) to decorate it with flowers, and had his head chef whip up some bipimbap, kimchi, and a few other dishes. His self control was waning by the minute as he salivated over his original - like everything, he had invented it! - dishes. Well, the original dishes of his people at least. Korea himself wasn't much of a cook.

He scanned the crowd of ladies, ambassadors, government officials, and rich folk to find Myeongseong. Ah, of course. She was sitting on a bench, evading the crowd.

"Min! Miiiiiiiiiiin!" Korea called, wavinn frantically.

She started, snapping out of her thoughts and staring quizzically at him. "Yong Soo. Are you... okay?"

"Hi... Want to... Dance?" He panted, out of breath with his hands propped up on his knees in an attempt to regulate his breathing.

Min bit her lip, stifling her almost condescending laughter at him. "There's no music."

"Don't care! We can just ask the band to play something."

"Why didn't you do that-"

Korea cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted to the currently relaxing troop of musicians. "Hey guys! Yeah, you! Can you play something slow? Yeah! Okay, thanks!"

The troop of musicians struck up a song, and the two clumsily spun on the overly green grass. Korea, thanks to China's insistence, had taken dance lessons when he was younger. He never actually attended them, though, so his dancing abilities were close to zero. Myeonseong, of course, had had lessons, so Korea wasn't quite sure where she'd went wrong.

Couples were spinning gracefully across the lawn, and those who were not dancing chatted amiably next to the food and drink. It was nice, Korea supposed, despite not being very interested in the whole 'ball' thing. Those were always more of Taiwan's favorite. The lamps produced a calm, warm glow that illuminated the dusky sky, stars like tiny gems scattered across the span of the heavens. Couples and singles alike wore beautiful gowns, suits, and extravagant dress that even Korea wouldn't testify to making. A slow waltz filled the air, and although it wasn't really his favorite music, he thought it appropriate for the situation.

Min and Yong Soo danced, if you could call it that, all the while making light conversation about the food, and the other aspects of the party. Korea, now more than ever, thought Myeongseong was beautiful.

And then the music slid to a screeching halt.

Horrified screams pierced the air, and Korea let go of Min so quickly that she stumbled back, tripping over the hem of her gown.

Men in black coats, some with gold in red markings, swarmed the area. All were armed with heavy curved swords, not even bothering to hide their weaponry. One mam in particular stood out - a man in a white outfit, embellished with gold buttons. Soulless brown eyes surveyed the now panicking clearing with shark-like brutality.

Honda Kiku. Japan. Nihon. His brother.

Korea breathed deeply, and not bothering for theatrics, shoved Min in the direction of the trees. "Run!" He snapped, voice cracking. The sixteen year old girl gave him a final glance before dashing off into the trees. To Korea's right a girl collapsed, blood staining her embroidered bodice. He'd seen her once before, a friend of the empress. Now she was dead.

A hand gripped his shoulder, and Korea twisted in the vice like grip, coming face to face with the man who was causing such pandemonium.

"Little brother. Where is-" Japan started, collected as ever, cut off by Korea's fist slamming into his face, causing a spray of blood to pour from his lip. His hand released Korea's shoulder in surprise, and the latter, in a moment of pure adrenaline, fury, and cowardice, fled into the crowd. He had to move, and quickly.

 **~Time Skip brought to you by my hatred of OC's and this chapter~**

He paced the floor of his bedroom. Back and forth. Back, and forth. Had that scratch always been there? He didn't know. There was a bug on his ceiling. A tiny little spider. Korea hoped that it was enjoying itself.

No news. A day of waiting, and no news about Myeongseong. Her two friends were dead, courtesy of his 'brother'. As if a brother would really hurt their own brother that much.

The noise of a fist slamming into wood echoed throughout his home. A knock. And then another. Korea broke his constant walk and sprinted towards the door, bounding like an excited puppy. He flung open the door, and an outside observer would have seen the blizzard of emotions that passed over his face. Joy, then shock, then disbelief, and finally, despair.

The empress was dead, her ashes scattered in front of the pavilion they'd danced at the night before.

Oh, a trial would be held, of course. But not a fair one. Never a fair trial, you couldn't expect _fairness_ of all things from Honda Kiku. And eventually the murderers would be acquitted, and the case brushed over until everyone forgot. Thus was the peril of immortality- having memories that no one else possesses, whether they be happy or not.

Korea would forget.

But Im Yong Soo would not.

 **A/N: I hate this chapter with every fiber of my being, I hate OC's, I hate this, and I was majorly tempted to actually make the empress Taiwan because I hate this so much.**

 **Happy late rabbit day.**

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